The ASX's All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) had a pretty dreary day of trading to kick the week off. This Monday saw the All Ords close at 7,773.2 points, up a miserly 0.015% after giving up a strong initial gain this morning and spending some time in the red this afternoon. But that did nothing to dent the performance of the Zimplats Holdings Ltd (ASX: ZIM) share price.
Zimplats shares have closed at $33.93 today, up a healthy 9.91%. Not only that, but Zimplats also hit an intra-day high of $34.45 a share. That price happens to be a new all-time high for Zimplats.
So why did this ASX resources share rocket to a new record high today?
What's pushing the Zimplats share price to record highs?
Well, we can't be completely sure. There was nothing new out of the company itself today that might easily explain this move.
However, there has been some news in the resources space that might be getting investors hot under the collar.
According to a report in the Australian Financial Review (AFR) today, the global price of palladium has had some strong appreciation over the past few days. This comes as two Russian palladium refiners were suspended from the London market last week.
Russia reportedly produces around 40% of the world's freshly mined palladium. Palladium is a platinum-group precious metal that is predominantly used in catalytic converters for road vehicles. Its price has soared over 2022 thanks in most part to supply issues stemming from the war in Ukraine and global sanctions against Russia.
So why is this relevant to Zimplats? Well, the company is a major producer of platinum-group metals through its Zimbabwe Platinum Mines subsidiary, including platinum itself as well as palladium. According to Bloomberg, palladium prices have risen from US$2,200 per ounce on 6 April to today's pricing of US$2,512.
So it's perhaps no wonder that investors have sent Zimplas shares up so enthusiastically today.
At the last Zimplats share price, this ASX resources share had a market capitalisation of $3.32 billion.
