Palladium Crashes With Car Sales, Bear Trade Signaled

Fewer car-sale incentives in China and a slowdown in purchases by investment funds means the 16-month rally that made palladium the most expensive compared with platinum in four years may be coming to an end.

China’s auto sales may drop 8.7 percent in the third quarter from the second and U.S. sales growth may slow to 2.6 percent from 26 percent, according to J.D. Power Automotive Forecasting in Oxford, England. Withdrawals from palladium- backed exchange-traded funds on April 28 marked the third-biggest global sell-off since the products started in 2007, according to UBS AG.