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Asian palladium falls in afternoon on Russia news

HONG KONG: Asian spot palladium fell sharply late on Thursday after traders in Japan reported getting offers for the metal from Russian exporter Almazjuvelirexport (Almaz).

Spot palladium, which set all-time highs in recent weeks over concerns about Russian supply, was quoted at US$439.00/444.00 an ounce, down from its opening price of US$448.00/453.00.

Platinum was little changed at US$417.00/452.00. A trader at a leading Japanese trading house said Almaz asked if they were willing to buy spot palladium based on the loco Zurich price, which he said was the first palladium offer for spot deals from Russia this year.

Before the Russian news, palladium was drifting lower on Japanese arbitrage, dealers said.

"The Japanese were doing some arbitrage on TOCOM, and palladium went lower in a very thin market," one Hong Kong dealer said.

Spot gold fell after US selling, possibly by funds, in the morning but found good support at US$281, traders said.

Gold bullion was quoted at US$281.50/282.00 per ounce late on Thursday compared to New York's previous close at US$282.30/80 on Wednesday. Spot silver was quoted at US$5.09/12 an ounce after closing in New York at US$5.09/11 on Wednesday.

Silver, which has fallen in the past few days over concerns about selling of surplus silver in China in the international market, was supported around US$5.05 an ounce, a dealer said.

Local tael gold was quoted HK$2 up at HK$2,620.

The carry over charge at the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society was nil, down from its previous fix at 1.-Reuters