Platinum and palladium both took a break from recent price rises on Friday as investors made pre-long weekend cash ins.

That said, analysts believe the halt is only temporary as supply for both metals is still being squeezed. That's largely because ongoing strikes in South Africa look unlikely to let up despite the approach of a new round of mediation talks, The Wall Street Journal notes. As Rich Ilczyszyn, chief market strategist with Chicago-based futures brokerage iiTrader, told the news outlet, “platinum has been a leader and this is just a bit of profit-taking."

As Bloomberg states, the supply shortage for both platinum and palladium is only growing, and will soon become the greatest in 30 years.