During market crashes, palladium isn’t the first commodity that comes to mind.
That’d typically be reserved for gold, the oldest of all safe havens, or maybe oil, a notoriously volatile asset. But while those two have garnered plenty of attention this week, no commodity has cratered more spectacularly than palladium, stunning investors with a 30% plunge that included a 20% drop in one day alone in the spot market. Futures on Friday tumbled as much as 24%.
Palladium’s dramatic ascendance in the past 13 months has turned into an equally shocking rout as the coronavirus outbreak crushes demand prospects for the metal used in cars. After fears of supply constraints sent palladium cruising through multiple record highs, making it one of the best performing commodities of 2019, concerns about auto sales sent the metal plunging into a bear market. And the fall continued Friday.