Palladium heads towards $2000 an ounce

Palladium prices climbed on Thursday as the dollar lost ground against most rivals and traders follow the latest political developments. 

The G7 countries announced a new batch of sanctions this week against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, including banning gold imports and putting a ceiling on natural gas and oil imports from Russia.

Therefore analysts expect a historic contraction in the Russian economy approaching 11.2% this year.

Russia is a major producer of palladium and other industrial metals, with carmakers in particular putting high demand on palladium for use in part manufacturing.

Dollar

The dollar index fell 0.1% to 104.9 as of 5:22 GMT, with a session-high at 105.1, and a low at 104.9.

It comes ahead of a batch of important S data later today, including personal spending levels, and unemployment claims.

Palladium futures due in September rose 1% to $1,966.5 an ounce as of 5:22 GMT.