The precious metal complex outperformed others in the commodity sector Tuesday due to persistence decline in USD. Benchmark futures for gold edged +0.4% higher to 984 and silver gained +1.4% to 15.96. PGM metals' surge was also supported by the quick resolution of GM. Both platinum (+1.9%) and palladium (+3.1%) futures soared to 8-month highs.

US' pending home sales surprisingly rose +6.7% mom in April, the biggest monthly increase in 7 years, from +3.2% a month ago. The reading beat market expectation of +0.3% as driven by record low mortgage rate and signaled weakness in US housing market may have bottomed. Rise in risk appetite drove investors further away from USD which plunged to a new 5.5-month low against euro and thus boosted gold.

German Chancellor Angela Markel commented that she has 'great skepticism' about the unconventional monetary policies adopted by the Fed and BOE as they could cause huge inflation pressure if central banks fail to employ effective exit policies as economy recovers.

GM won court approval to on its first day in bankruptcy to sell its beast asset next month and the new company is anticipated to be established in 60-90 days. After the bankruptcy of GM and Chrysler, the major overhang in US auto market has passed and investors start to focus more on fundamental demands.

Autodata Corp. reported that US auto sales dropped -34% yoy in May to an annual sales rate of 9.9M, better than consensus and 9.32M in April. All of GM, Ford and Chrysler posted less-than-expected decline in sales during the month. PGM investors probably felt more confident by these figures as about 50% of the world's platinum and palladium are used as auto catalysts.

Crude oil price slid -0.04% to 68.55 Tuesday as investors booked in profit as the black gold had rallied for 6 days. Crude oil price for July delivery dropped to as low as 67.5 in early trading as USD rebounded and the Eurozone reported higher-than-expected unemployment rate. The gauge later rose to 69.05 after US' homes sales date before settling at 68.55.

The API reported crude oil inventory drew modestly by -0.83 mmb for 363.9 mmb for the week ended May 29. Stock at Cushing also fell by -0.32 mmb during the week. Both gasoline and distillate stockpile rose in the week as decline plummeted.

The US Energy Department will release the petroleum report today. According to Bloomberg survey, crude stockpile probably dropped -1.5 mmb to 361.8 last week. Both gasoline and distillate stockpiles should have risen, by +0.65 mmb and +0.9 mmb respectively, due to reduction in demand.