Palladium rose for the 12th straight session to its highest in more than 13 years on Tuesday amid firm automotive demand and continued concerns supplies in South Africa will tighten even after the end of a months-long strike. Gold turned lower even as the dollar's recent rally faded and investors awaited clearer signs from the US Federal Reserve that it is on track to raise US interest rates next year.
In an otherwise quiet session, palladium hit $873.75 an ounce, the highest since February 2001, taking its gains to 8 percent over the past two weeks since miners in South Africa, the world's second-largest producer, struck a wage deal to end a five-month industrial action that crimped output. Later in the session on Tuesday, palladium pared gains and was up 0.4 percent at $869.00 by 3:15 pm EDT (1915 GMT). Spot gold fell 0.2 percent to $1,317.43 an ounce, while US gold futures for August delivery settled down 0.04 percent at $1,316.50 an ounce. Platinum fell 0.2 percent to $1,488.75 an ounce, turning lower along with other precious metals and US stock markets. Spot silver edged down 0.4 percent to $20.96 an ounce.
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