Palladium falls

JOHANNESBURG. — Palladium fell further yesterday, a day after the metal posted its biggest drop in more than two years on technical selling and profit-booking.

Gold prices, meanwhile, edged higher as an inversion in the U.S.Treasury yield curve fanned fears of an economic slowdown. FUNDAMENTALS

◆ Spot palladium was down 0.2 percent at $1,441.49 per ounce at 1335 GMT, after hitting its lowest since Feb. 18 at $1,436 earlier in the session.

◆ The metal fell 6.3 percent on Wednesday, its biggest one-day percentage decline since January 2017. It hit a record peak of $1,620.52 last week, and has gained about 14 percent so far this year.

◆ Spot gold was 0,1 percent higher at $1,310.48 per ounce.

◆ U.S. gold futures were down 0.1 percent at $1,308.50 an ounce.

◆ At the Commodities Global Summit in Lausanne, FT Switzerland, Anglo American Chief Executive Officer Mark Cutifani said palladium, whose price hit record high this month, was a “bubble”.

◆ Asian share markets were painted red on Thursday as recession concerns sent bond yields spiralling lower across the globe, overshadowing central bank attempts to calm frayed nerves.

◆ The U.S. economy faces “notable” risks and the Fed can take a wait-and-see approach to monetary policy, Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank President Esther George said on Wednesday.

◆ British Prime Minister Theresa May failed to sway hardline opponents of her European Union divorce deal on Wednesday with an offer to quit, but parliament’s bid to agree an alternative fell short, leaving the Brexit process as deadlocked as ever.