Platinum and palladium both settled at two-month lows after Japanese car makers suspended production due to rolling power balckouts, damaged facilities and logistics disruptions following the natural disaster.

Most of the platinum and palladium in the world is traded on the Tokyo Commodities Exchange. We may be seeing some disaster liquidation. Japan is a major consumer of both metals.

In any case last week’s technicals pointed to lower prices toward the $1710 area in April platinum.

Apr platinum $1,752.30, down $29.40; Range $1,739.90-$1,787.00
Jun palladium $748.20, down $17.30; Range $744.10-$763.55
Apr gold $1,424.90, up $3.10; Range $1,418.20-$1,433.50
May silver $35.840, down 0.95 cents; Range $35.500-$36.505