By Seher Dareen
(Reuters) - Palladium slid as much as about 9% on Wednesday to lead a sharp reversal in precious metals, while gold shed over 3%, as a retreat in oil prices helped riskier assets stage a comeback following sharp declines spurred by the Ukraine war.
Palladium, used by automakers in catalytic converters to curb emissions, fell 4.1% to $3,050.78 per ounce after hitting a record high of $3,440.76 on Monday driven by fears of disruptions to supply from top producer Russia.
Spot gold fell 2.8% to $1,995.55 per ounce by 1554 GMT, snapping a four-session rally that took it to within reach of the August 2020 all-time high. U.S. gold futures fell 2.2% to $1,999.40.
"There was a big risk premium added to gold and some of it is unwinding now," said Bart Melek, head of commodity strategies at TD (TSX:TD) Securities.
"Do we think this will continue? Probably. We got a little carried away with gold, but we're at a much firmer footing than before this conflict, mainly because I still think the Federal Reserve and other central banks are going to be very cautious about how they reduce liquidity."
Spot silver fell 1.4% to $26.02 per ounce, after touching a near nine-month high on Tuesday. Platinum dipped 5.5%, to $1,089.78.
The sharp reversal was also being driven by heavy profit-taking following the big gains on Tuesday, analysts said.
Equities rebounded as oil prices eased and investors snapped up stocks hammered by concerns over Western sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
Gold is considered a safe store of value amid such uncertainties.
A pullback to near $1,930 is likely, said Michael McCarthy, chief strategy officer at Tiger Brokers, Australia.
"But if the current instability in geopolitical terms continues, it's very likely we will seek fresh all-time highs for precious metals," McCarthy added.