Palladium has been taken off the market after a two-week high.
Due to pre-NFP concern and a light calendar, market mood is sluggish.
Traders are bored by delta variation issues, inconsistent data, and IMF comments.
Palladium (XPD/USD) is attempting to break above the upper end of its recent range of $2,768 to $2,756, with no significant intraday movement ahead of Friday’s European session. The precious metal reached a new high the previous day, surpassing $2,801, for the first time since June 17th.
Palladium bulls are licking their wounds near $2,767, avoiding additional fall, while muted markets monitor price movements ahead of critical US jobs data for June. The lack of big data/events could also stymie the commodity’s movement. By displaying the latest uncertainty, bullion purchasers appear to be concerned about the US dollar’s future ascent amid the safe-haven trade.
However, the US dollar index (DXY) is edging higher, nearing the three-month high of 92.57 at press time. Fears about the US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy adjustment, recently bolstered by good US data and the International Monetary Fund, not to mention hawkish Fedspeak, could be behind the greenback’s safe-haven attractiveness.
Concerns over the Delta covid strain, which is wreaking havoc on Asia-embryonic Pacific’s recovery and putting the UK’s unlock hopes in jeopardy, also support the USD bulls. It’s worth mentioning that Asia is the world’s largest consumer of precious metals, thus worries about the region’s economy can affect the XPD/USD exchange rate.
Stock futures have remained flat in the face of these moves, while US Treasury yields have continued to fall as of press time.
Moving on, the covid updates may provide intermediate swings in palladium prices before market participants deal with the June US jobs report. According to forecasts, the headline Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) will increase from 559K to 690K, and the unemployment rate will drop from 5.8% to 5.7 percent. Given the high expectations for major US data, any letdown will elicit a strong reaction from XPD/USD buyers challenging the 50-day moving average.
Palladium prices stay below the 50-day moving average, implying a sideways slog between $2,810 and $2,730, despite crossing a two-month-old resistance line, now support./n
