Palladium falls back below $2,000

Palladium prices fell on Wednesday, despite the US dollar's drop against most of its peers, amid focus on the pandemic.

Trading is calm during this week as global markets are now preparing for the end of 2021.

Concerns about the pandemic are still dominating markets due to the spread of the Omicron variant in several countries, especially in Europe.

US President Joe Biden confirmed last week that his administration would not impose a full lockdown due to Omicron, but asked citizens to follow precautionary measures during the holidays.

The dollar index fell against a basket of major currencies 0.3% to 95.9 points as of 15:02 GMT, after hitting a high of 96.4 points and a low of 95.8 points.

Palladium March futures fell 1% to $1979.5 an ounce as of 15:03 GMT.