Platinum and palladium stocks are spiking as investors anticipate the launch of platinum and palladium bullion exchange-traded funds in the coming week.

Shares of platinum miner Stillwater Mining Company (NYSE: SWC) and palladium miner North American Palladium (AMEX: PAL) were up 14 percent and 8 percent respectively, midday, and trading at 52-week highs.

According to Reuters, the Securities and Exchange Commission approved a rule change in late December that would allow ETF Securities to proceed with the planned launch of ETFs that hold physical platinum and palladium bullion as their sole investment. Susquehanna, a well-known specialist firm, is said to have “seeded” the funds with an initial investment. Taken together, these two factors mean the new funds could launch within the week.

That has investors jockeying for position in related mining equities, betting that bullion-buying by the new ETFs will help drive up the prices of the underlying metals and support those shares.

The ETFS Platinum Trust is expected to list on the NYSE Arca under the ticker symbol PPLT. The ETFS Palladium Trust is expected to list on the NYSE Arca under the ticker symbol PALL.

The prospectus for PPLT is available here. The prospectus for PALL is available here.