What moved metals markets

• Gold for August delivery
  GCQ22,
  +1.25%

  GC00,
  +1.25%
  rose 1.2% to settle at $1,871.40 per troy ounce, that was its highest close since May 6, and the best daily percentage gain since May 19, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The yellow metal also is now up 1.3% on the month.

• Silver
  SIN22,
  +1.78%

  SI00,
  +1.78%
  gained 1.6% to settle at $22.28 per ounce; it was up 2.8% so far in June.

• Platinum
  PLN22,
  +2.73%

  PL00,
  +2.73%
  built upon its sizable gains from yesterday’s session, ending 3.1% higher to settle at $1,028.40, crossing back above the psychologically important $1,000-per-ounce level.

• Palladium
  PAM22,
  +1.89%

  PA00,
  +1.68%
  rose 2.2% to end at $2,036.50 per ounce.

• Copper
  HGN22,
  +5.04%
  climbed 4.8% to settle at $4.55 per pound.

Citi’s Aakash Doshi, a precious metals analyst, recently cut his near-term price target for gold, arguing that a confluence of factors are conspiring to keep a lid on the precious metal’s price.

“A hawkish Fed, higher real rates, and what still remain anchored medium-term inflation expectations (in both surveys and bond market pricing) have weighed on gold price momentum amid a relatively robust [U.S. dollar] backdrop. It also seems likely some geopolitical risk premium has eroded as the market absorbed the Russia/Ukraine conflict,” Doshi wrote in a note to clients.

Elsewhere, a team of analysts at Commerzbank explained why platinum prices have outperformed recently, citing expectations of increased demand from the automobile industry as a supply-chain crunch fades.

“Platinum is likely to profit from the increased demand from the automotive industry that is expected this year by market observers like Johnson Matthey and Metals Focus,” wrote Commerzbank’s Daniel Briesemann

It’s worth noting that platinum has risen on each of the last five days of trading, gaining around $50 and driving the price discount versus gold to just $850 per troy ounce, its narrowest level since March.

The outlook for industrial metals was more mixed, as prices of aluminum fell and copper climbed after a popular gauge of U.S. manufacturing activity – the S&P Global U.S. manufacturing PMI – showed activity slowing in May to a four-month low.