· Palladium slumped 6 percent on Wednesday as investors booked profits after a rally to record highs and slowing global growth cast doubts over demand for the autocatalyst metal, while gold slipped on a stronger dollar.
· Palladium fell 6 percent to $1,445 per ounce, the lowest since Feb. 18. The metal had hit a record $1,620.52 last week.
· U.S. gold futures settled $4.60 lower at $1,310.40.
· "Net longs have stayed steady in palladium for the better part of six months and this surprising retreat in gold seems to have triggered profit taking in palladium. It is a very illiquid market which magnifies the price moves," said Tai Wong, head of base and precious metals derivatives trading at BMO.
· The slide pared gains from palladium's over 15 percent rally this year fueled by a sharp supply deficit.
· "It seems that global recession fears start to hurt palladium as well," Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch said.
· Anglo American Chief Executive Mark Cutifani's comment that palladium was in a market "bubble" weighed on prices.
· A gauge of world stocks slipped on fears of a global economic slowdown, while benchmark U.S. Treasury yields sank to fresh 15-month lows and German bond yields fell further below zero.
· The gloomy economic scenario offered only limited support to gold, which gave back early gains and dipped 0.2 percent to $1,312.67 per ounce, as the dollar rose.
· "The sudden selling looks like long liquidation after gold failed to rally in the face of sharply lower yields and the U.S dollar has been stubbornly bid," BMO's Wong said.
· The U.S. dollar index was up 0.2 percent, making bullion more expensive for holders of their currencies.
· On Monday, bullion had touched $1,324.32, the highest in more than three weeks.
· "Selling pressure (in gold) has been consistent ever since gold and silver prices came off this week's high of $1,324," said Walter Pehowich, executive vice president of investment services at Dillon Gage Metals.
· Investors awaited the latest round of China-U.S. trade negotiations in Beijing on Thursday, as well as British Prime Minister Theresa May's address to Conservative lawmakers at 1700 GMT, possibly to set a timetable for her departure in a final bid to win support for her twice-rejected Brexit deal.
· Silver was down 0.8 percent at $15.30 per ounce, while platinum dipped 0.1 percent to $854.56.
Reference: CNBC
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