Investing.com – The spot price of palladium retained its record-making streak on Wednesday after investors linked the precious metal used for purifying auto emissions with an announcement by China that could boost car ownership in the world’s second-largest economy.
Gold, meanwhile, continued to tread water just below $1,300 a troy ounce as precious metals bulls remained wary of chasing the yellow metal higher without a clear path lower for the dollar, which has remained resilient despite a dovish-sounding Fed of late.
rose 0.7% to $1,293.71 by 4:00 PM ET (21:00 GMT), while on New York’s Comex settled up 0.5% at $1,292.
In the case of , it was up 0.3% at $1,330.90 per ounce after setting an all-time high at $1,341.40, its fifth peak above $1,300 since Friday. The precious metal has seen a steady ramp-up in speculative buying by funds since late last year on concerns of tightening supply.
The latest run-up came after a Chinese officials announced a plan to introduce policies aimed at boost domestic spending on items such as autos and home appliances this year.
Ning Jizhe, vice-chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, told state-owned China Central Television that spurring auto sales would be part of Beijing’s efforts to expand domestic demand and, in turn, boost its economy. Woeful sales in December had dimmed the outlook for the auto industry.
, meanwhile, rose 0.8% to $1,272.
Palladium’s sister metal gained 0.9% to $829.20.
climbed 0.5% to $15.79.
In base metals, Comex edged up 0.2% to $2.66 per pound.
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Source: Investing.com
