Markets were mixed on Thursday.
The S&P 500 was little-changed while elsewhere, the STOXX Europe 600 fell 0.1 percent and the Nikkei 225 fell 0.9 percent but the Shanghai Composite rose 0.2 percent.
Commodities fell sharply on Thursday, with copper futures off by 4.8 percent while futures prices for palladium and platinum fell more than 11 percent and nearly 7 percent respectively.
“The US dollar is probably reacting to bond yields moving higher yesterday and the prospect of an earlier tapering which would slow the supply of US dollars and this has led to a sizable decline in commodity prices across the board,” said Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at the Leuthold Group.
An announcement by the Chinese government on Wednesday that it planned to release reserves of key metals, including copper and aluminum, also possibly contributed to the decline in commodities. This had followed warnings by government officials about speculation in financial markets in recent weeks.
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