South Africa’s rand was flat against the dollar on Wednesday as heightened tensions in Iraq tempered domestic optimism about platinum miners returning to work after the end of a five-month strike, Reuters reported.
Workers from the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union signed a wage agreement with the three top platinum producers on Tuesday but production is not expected to return to full swing in three months.
Japanese platinum bar saw the biggest price decline of the day, dropping 1.0 percent to close at JPY 4,752 ($46.64) per gram on Tuesday, June 24. Chinese platinum bar finished the day up 0.6 percent to CNY 310.00 ($49.79) per gram. The price of US platinum bar showed little movement on Tuesday at $1,451 per ounce.
Chinese palladium bar saw its price rise 0.5 percent to CNY 185.00 ($29.71) per gram. The price of Japanese palladium bar remained essentially flat at JPY 2,700 ($26.50) per gram. At $819.00 per ounce, the price of US palladium bar was essentially unchanged.
The price of Japanese gold bullion increased 0.3 percent to JPY 4,308 ($42.28) per gram. At $1,318, the price of US gold bullion finished the market day up 0.3 percent per ounce. Chinese gold bullion prices inched up 0.2 percent to CNY 263.63 ($42.34) per gram. The price of Indian gold bullion ended a two-day climb, settling at INR 27,881 ($463.41) per 10 grams.
After a 0.5 percent increase, Japanese silver finished the day at JPY 660.00 ($6.48) per 10 grams. The price of Chinese silver closed at CNY 4,315 ($693.07) per kilogram. Following a couple days of improvement, the metal’s price weakened by 0.2 percent. Following a two-day rise, the price of US silver flattened at $20.89. The price of Indian silver steadied at INR 45,609 ($758.07) per kilogram following two-days of increases.