Led by the drop in the price of copper after the World Bank cut its forecast for global growth this year, metals used in industrial products tumbled, so OANDA senior currency strategist Alfonso Esparza examines how the spillover has affected silver, palladium, and gold.
Palladium tumbled and silver fell from a one-month high as concerns of a global economic slowdown spurred a rout in metals used in industrial products. Gold rose to the highest price since October.
The Bloomberg Commodity Index of 22 raw materials slid to a 12-year low Wednesday, led by a plunge in copper, after the World Bank cut its forecast for global growth this year. Palladium is mostly used with platinum in catalytic converters that help curb harmful emissions from cars, while silver goes into items from solar panels to electronics.
“Certainly it looks like spillover from the industrial metals more than anything,” James Moore, an analyst at FastMarkets Ltd. in London, said by phone. “Traditionally silver has got some ties to price sentiment in the base metals, particularly with the likes of copper and zinc.”
Palladium for the March delivery dropped as much as 3.8%—the most since Nov. 5—to $785 an ounce. It traded at $797.70 by 9:11AM on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Platinum for April delivery was little changed at $1,247.50 an ounce, paring an earlier 1.7% loss.
Silver futures for March delivery fell 0.8% to $17.015 an ounce on the Comex in New York, after earlier tumbling as much as 3.5%. Tuesday, the price touched $17.215 an ounce, the highest since Dec. 12.
The world economy will expand 3% in 2015, down from a projection of 3.4% in June, the World Bank said.
By Alfonso Esparza,Senior Currency Strategist, OANDA
