Commodities
Commodities shows you live US-dollar prices for gold, silver, platinum, and palladium, the four precious metals many investors hold as a store of value or a hedge against inflation and currency weakness.
Precious metals behave differently from shares. Gold in particular tends to rise when confidence in currencies or markets falls, which is why it appears in many portfolios as insurance. Silver and platinum are part industrial, so they move with manufacturing demand as well as with sentiment; palladium is dominated by demand for car catalysts. Watching the four together tells you whether a move is about metals generally or about one metal's own market.
Each metal is quoted as a currency pair against the US dollar, priced per troy ounce: XAUUSD for gold, XAGUSD for silver, XPTUSD for platinum, and XPDUSD for palladium. Each has a live quote and a chart. Because they are priced in dollars, your return as a sterling investor also depends on the pound-dollar rate, which is on Forex. These are over-the-counter prices, not exchange-traded shares, so there is no order book.
Questions
Are the metal prices in pounds?
No. They are US dollars per troy ounce. Your sterling return also depends on the pound-dollar rate, which is on Forex.
Related pages
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