Silver Price set for a third monthly drop

New York (May 29)  Silver for July delivery fell 1.2 percent to $18.84 an ounce in New York, set for a third monthly drop. Platinum for July delivery dropped 0.9 percent to $1,449.80 an ounce. Palladium for September delivery lost 0.5 percent to $836.70 an ounce. It reached $845 yesterday, the highest since Aug. 1, 2011, and is heading for a fourth month of gains in the longest such run since January 2011.

Holdings in platinum- and palladium-backed exchange-traded products reached records yesterday, data compiled by Bloomberg show. More than 70,000 mine workers downed tools in January in South Africa, the largest producer of platinum. Government-led talks between the mining companies and the main union in the country will take place today.