Platinum

Covid reared its ugly head again on economic data, which saw China’s service PMI contract at its fastest pace since the pandemic.

To say March has been a volatile ride for metals would be an understatement. Yet despite sustained losses for palladium and platinum, gold seems less willing to break lower.

Whilst gold has stolen a few headlines this week, we see the potential for palladium to make a rally of its own.

Given the lacklustre bounce on gold alongside a rise in short bets and closure of longs last week, we retain the view that its recent bounce is corrective.

As the data was compiled ahead of the FOMC meeting its likely there are some distortions in this week’s speculative positioning report.

Traders were their most bearish on British pound futures in 17-months, according to last week’s commitment of traders report.

Bond markets continued to price in concerns of stagflation overnight, with yields at the long-end of the curve falling as the IMF trimmed their growth forecasts.