Financial Analyst/Content Writer, RADEX MARKETS
Lawrence J. came from a strong technical and engineering background before pivoting into a more financial role later on in his career. Always interested in international finance, Lawrence is experienced in both traditional markets as well as the emerging crypto markets. He now serves as the financial writer for RADEX MARKETS.
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The rally in platinum continued yesterday, pushing the metal to within touching distance of $2,000 per ounce and matching its 2008 price tag. Platinum has now doubled since the start of the year, an accolade also achieved by silver earlier in the month, but the precious metal may not be the last. The club has a couple of weeks left to welcome a third member into its ranks, this time in the form of palladium, which surpassed $1,750 yesterday and is up 90% so far this year. Gold came close to another record high on Thursday, but ultimately fell short, settling to a minor loss at $4,332 per ounce by the daily close.
Markets received a surprising update yesterday when the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed a significant slowdown in US inflation. Year-over-year inflation was expected to hit 3.1% in November, but the official figure came in at just 2.7%. Core inflation, which excludes the more volatile components such as energy and food, lowered to 2.6%, falling far short of expectations of 3.0%. The unexpected figures buoyed US stock markets, lifting the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq to positive daily closes. It is still too early to be thinking about the next move by the Federal Reserve, but should inflation continue to show signs of abating, it will open the door for future rate cuts on the dollar, which are currently not expected until March at the earliest.
The Bank of Japan raised the interest rate on the yen to a 30-year high of 0.75% this morning. The move was widely expected and provoked little to no reaction in currencies or in financial markets in general. The central bank is expected to continue raising rates into next year, a shift that will eventually impact the relative value of the yen, which now sits at decade-lows against most major currencies. Low rates have made the Japanese yen very attractive as a source of cheap financing in recent years, but such a model could quickly disappear if the BoJ keeps closing the gap between the yen and the dollar.
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