Golden year for precious metals as 2019 sees glistening run

* Palladium extends gains into the fourth straight year
* Platinum on track for best year since 2009
* Gold set for biggest yearly gain since 2010
* Bullion to continue its bullish trend into 2020
* Graphic: https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/editorcharts/GLOBAL%20PRECIOUS/0H001QXSMB5Q/index.html

By Swati Verma
Dec 31 (Reuters) - Gold prices are set for their strongest
annual increase since 2010, as worries over global economic
health triggered a surge of interest in precious metals, while
palladium soared more than 50% to record highs thanks to supply
shortages.
Silver and platinum, which like gold are often seen as safe
investments in uncertain times, also saw their largest annual
gains in several years.
Many analysts say prices are likely to rise further in 2020,
with shaky growth and global stock markets potentially looking
unsustainable at record highs.
Central banks are also buying more gold and have flipped
from tightening to loosening monetary policy, pushing interest
rates and bond yields down and making non-yielding precious
metals more attractive to investors.
"An environment of low rates, persistent macro uncertainty,
and elevated equities makes a case for holding gold as a hedge.
This view could likely drive demand for gold higher into 2020
and lend support to the current medium-term uptrend," said
Stephen Innes, a market strategist at AxiTrader.
While the United States and China cooled their trade war
earlier this month, several issues remain unresolved and gold
should perform well if dollar weakness plays out in 2020, he
added. USD/
Spot gold XAU= is up more than 18% in 2019 as of 1837 GMT
and at $1,519.41 an ounce is pushing back towards a six-year
high of $1,557 reached in early September. Holdings of gold in
exchange traded funds (ETFs) also rose by around 14% this year.
GOL/ETF
Spot silver XAG= , rising in gold's wake, is up about 15%
in 2019 at $17.85 an ounce, its strongest performance since
2016.
Platinum XPT= at $962.50 an ounce was 21.6% higher this
year, its biggest rise since 2009.
But palladium XPD= continued to stand out, soaring more
than $700 an ounce this year in its fourth consecutive annual
gain. It touched a record high of $1,998.43 an ounce on Dec. 17
and on Tuesday cost $1,938.
The metal is mainly used in car exhaust systems to
neutralise emissions, and stricter environmental regulations are
adding to demand.
Since palladium is produced as a by-product of nickel and
platinum mining, supply has been unable to keep up, with further
shortfalls expected in the early 2020s.
"The market has been in a structural deficit for a few years
now and that's expected to persist," said Ryan McKay, a
commodity strategist at TD Securities.
"We saw deficit this year, even though the auto market has
been in terrible shape. On top of that we have increased
environmental regulations globally. That contributes to
increased PGM loadings in the auto-catalysts."

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
2019 Precious Metals Performance https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/editorcharts/GLOBAL%20PRECIOUS/0H001QXSMB5Q/index.html
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>