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Introduction – Increases in prices of commodity markets may be associated with increased volatility in financial markets. That is why analysing time-varying co-movements of commodity prices can be of great importance for investors who take into consideration optimal asset allocation.

Purpose – The aim of this study is to investigate the volatility spillover from oil to precious metals under high-volatility and low-volatility regimes.

Methodology – The data covered daily closing prices of assets such as oil, palladium, and platinum for the period January 2010–December 2018. GARCH models were analysed in order to determine the most appropriate volatility structure, and it was determined that GARCH (1,1) model was the most suitable model for all commodities. Markov Switching model was used to analyse the volatility spillover from oil to precious metals.

Findings – According to the analyses, the results showed that there were volatility spillovers from oil to palladium and platinum in low-volatility regimes and from oil to platinum in high-volatility regimes. On the other hand, there was no volatility spillover from oil to palladium in high-volatility regimes. Investing into oil and palladium in the same portfolio can provide diversification benefits for investors in high-volatility regimes. On the other hand, investing into oil and palladium in the same portfolio may not provide diversification benefits for investors in low-volatility regimes. The findings of the analyses can be beneficial for investors, market participants, and portfolio managers to make an accurate portfolio management.

Electroplating of palladium‐nickel alloy is becoming widely used, mainly for interconnection applications in the electronics industry and for decorative purposes. Enhanced hardness and brightness combined with superior wear properties compared with hard gold deposits make this alloy desirable in many applications. Like pure palladium, palladium‐nickel is frequently covered with a thin layer of hard gold to improve contact reliability; this results in a much less expensive and longer‐lasting contact material than hard gold on its own. In response to the growing demand, the authors have developed a palladium‐nickel alloy electroplating process that can plate alloys of varying composition (10–50 w % Ni) at current densities ranging from <5 mA/cm to >500 mA/cm. This process produces specular, hard and ductile deposits up to a thickness of ‐25 ?m. The new palladium‐nickel alloy electroplating process is described with regard to its chemistry, operating conditions, bath maintenance and regeneration, diagnostic measures, and properties of the electrodeposits.

Until recently the majority of catalysts used in through‐hole plating of printed circuits have been based on processes containing tin and palladium. These have been adequate although, with the ever increasing demands on quality of subsequently assembled printed circuits, they have shortcomings which are functions of the basic formulae and mechanisms of operation. The new non‐precious metal catalyst based on copper operates over a much wider range of conditions and, unlike palladium catalysts, promotes complete coverage of epoxy glass laminates. The operation of both catalyst systems is discussed in depth and compared, significant emphasis being placed on the mechanism of surface activation.

The effects of varying reflow profiles on the tensile pull strength and structure of solder joints of components with tin plated and nickel‐palladium plated leads were studied. It was found that, in the case of tin plated leads, the structure and the tensile pull strength of the resultant solder joints were not significantly affected by varying the reflow conditions from Profile 1 (peak temperature range: 174°C to 195°C, reflow time 24 seconds) and Profile 2 (peak temperature range: 198°C to 218°C, reflow time 30 seconds). On the other hand, the mean pull strength of solder joints of nickel‐palladium plated lead was found to be significantly higher for joints reflowed with profile 2 than that of joints reflowed with Profile 1. Also, for both reflow profiles, the pull strengths of joints of nickel‐palladium plated leads were significantly higher than those of tin plated leads. This higher average pull strength may be due to the dissolution of palladium in the solder and/or the increased density of intermetallic precipitates in the solder fillet, and the increased intermetallic layer thickness at the lead/solder interface.

Palladium surface finishes are utilized on leadframes, printed wiring boards and automobile sensors. Their superior functional performance and the considerable environmental impact of plating lead‐free finishes for packaging processes have been increasingly recognized by the electronic industry. Wire bondable and solderable palladium finishes meet military and industrial standards at no extra cost in the overall assembly processes when compared to traditional packaging techniques. In addition to the development of palladium plating chemistries and technologies, the functional properties of the surface finishes including their wire bonding performance have also been investigated at Bell Laboratories. In this study, gold and aluminum wire bonding to palladium finishes was tested and the wire bond pull force and break position were examined in order to optimize the bonding processes. The results of the study are reported in this paper.

This paper aims to examine the return and volatility transmission among economic policy uncertainty (EPU), geopolitical risk (GPR), their interaction (EPGR) and five tradable precious metals: gold, silver, platinum, palladium and rhodium.

Applying time-varying parameter vector autoregression (TVP-VAR) frequency-based connectedness approach to a data set spanning from January 1997 to February 2023, the study analyzes return and volatility connectedness separately, providing insights into how the data, in return and volatility forms, differ across time and frequency.

The results of the return connectedness show that gold, palladium and silver are affected more by EPU in the short term, while all precious metals are influenced by GPR in the short term. EPGR exhibits strong contributions to the system due to its elevated levels of policy uncertainty and extreme global risks. Palladium shows the highest reaction to EPGR, while silver shows the lowest. Return spillovers are generally time-varying and spike during critical global events. The volatility connectedness is long-term driven, suggesting that uncertainty and risk factors influence market participants’ long-term expectations. Notable peaks in total connectedness occurred during the Global Financial Crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, with the latter being the highest.

Using the recently updated news-based uncertainty indicators, the study examines the time and frequency connectedness between key uncertainty measures and precious metals in their returns and volatility forms using the TVP-VAR frequency-based connectedness approach.

This study aims to analyze the presence of a long-term relationship between precious metal prices, such as for gold, silver, platinum and palladium, and Islamic stock markets of 32 different countries – 21 developed and 11 developing. In this study, the long-term relationship between the precious metal prices and the Islamic stock markets of countries grouped by the Morgan Stanley Capital Index (MSCI) according to their level of development was examined. In the economies included in the study, it is necessary that the Islamic stock index be created by MSCI. It is not a constraint as a Muslim country.

This study used the Pedroni panel cointegration analysis and full modified ordinary least square method. All analyses in this study were performed using monthly data from 2002 to 2015.

According to the Pedroni panel cointegration analysis applied in this study, all four precious metals – gold, silver, platinum and palladium – are effective portfolio diversification tools for developed Islamic stock markets within the analyzed period. However, in developing countries, although gold and palladium are effective portfolio diversification tools, silver and platinum are not.

These results provide practical implications for academicians, practitioners as portfolio managers, policymakers. These implications are related in portfolio risk management, the diversification benefits and to propose new investment tools among developed and developing Islamic markets.

This study is important for investors who assemble portfolios under the restriction of selecting investment tools suitable for Islamic rules. These investors are important in terms of using precious metals that they prefer as an alternative to stock markets to protect against the risks related to their suitable portfolio options. Governments, individuals and institutional investors that use capital stock according to Islamic rules in developed countries can effectively use gold, silver, platinum and palladium as hedging tools. However, this choice is limited to only gold and palladium in developing country markets. Gold continues to be an effective diversification tool in Islamic share markets, as in traditional stock markets.

The author would like to emphasize that this article is second to examine precious metals and Islamic stock markets in literature.