Volkswagen scandal leads palladium to best weekly gain in 4 years

New York (Sept 2015)  Palladium prices on Friday scored a more than 9% gain for the week, their largest since December 2011, as the Volkswagen scandal buoyed demand prospects for the metal.

The scandal affecting Volkswagen  VOW, -2.82% VLKAY, -5.45% diesel emissions is expected to “be supportive of more gasoline-powered vehicles, which almost always use palladium catalysts,” analysts at Macquarie Research said in a recent note.

On Friday, December palladium PAZ5, +1.07%  settled at $667.60 an ounce, up $11.15, or 1.7%, for the session.

The contract was up 9.3% from the settlement last Friday. That is the biggest one-week gain since the week ended Dec. 2, 2011, when prices rose 13.3%.

News of the scandal broke a week ago, with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency accusing Volkswagen of equipping certain diesel cars sold in the U.S. with software used to cheat pollution standards.

Platinum futures, which are used in catalytic converters for diesel vehicles, saw their October contract PLV5, -0.83%  lose 3.4% for the week.

Source: MarketWatch