Gold prices stayed relatively stagnant in the last 7 days dancing around the $1,800 level and never straying too far. Since last Wednesday, prices for the yellow bullion decreased just -0.11% from $1,797/oz to today’s price of $1,795/oz. The metal experienced a high of $1,810/oz and a low of $1,783/oz. Gold has been trading between the $1,780 and $1,840 range for the past 4 weeks now and has yet to find any lasting upward momentum. On a 3 month basis, the precious metal is down -3.85%.
Gold Price (3 months)
Source: Tradingview; COMEX
Silver, unlike gold, fluctuated with much more volatility. The white bullion this week lost -2.86% of its value as in saw its price decrease from $24.46/oz last Wednesday to $23.76/oz at the time of writing. This week, the metal opened on its high on Wednesday and experienced a low of $23.41/oz. On a 3 month basis, silver prices have suffered greatly recording a total loss of -15.17%.
Silver Price (3 months)
Source: Tradingview; COMEX
Platinum continues its ugly downtrend as it records another substantial loss. In the last 7 day period, the industrial metal saw its prices drop from $994/oz to $929/oz, amounting to a decrease in value of -6.54%. This week, the metal experienced a high of $1,003/oz and a low of $920/oz. This is the lowest price for the metal in almost 10 months. In the last 3 months alone, platinum prices have plummeted -20.32%.
Platinum Price (3 months)
Source: Tradingview; NYMEX
Palladium crashed this week. The vehicle emission-reducing metal dropped a whopping -15.47% in the span of 7 days! The precious metal saw its price drop from $2,366/oz to $2,000/oz. This week, the palladium experienced a high of $2,381/oz and a low of $1,926/oz. This is the lowest price palladium has recorded in over 14 months. On a 3 month basis, the metal has lost almost a third of its value recording a loss of -27.38%.
Palladium Price (3 months)
Source: Tradingview; NYMEX
Rhodium
Rhodium loses out for the 19th consecutive week. This week, the metal lost -8.51% of its value as its prices dropped from $15,850/oz to $14,500/oz.
Platinum, Palladium and Rhodium are metals used to reduce vehicle emissions. In recent months, car prices in the US have shot through the roof post-pandemic. Used cars, for example, increased their prices by 30% year on year. Furthermore, a global shortage of semiconductor chips has led automakers to produce much fewer cars and hence decrease the demand for these precious metals. One example is Ford which recorded a massive US sales decline of 33.1% year on year. Toyota, the world’s largest automaker (in terms of car sales) has announced a shutdown of 14 factories in Japan and a cut down in automobile production of about 40%.
It is uncertain when car production will come back to normal. For now, high car prices and decreasing for Platinum, Palladium and Rhodium are likely to remain.