Precious metals surge to records as investors flee US assets
Shafaq News
Gold notched another record high on Friday, while silver and platinum also extended gains to hit all-time peaks, powered by diminishing confidence in U.S. assets on account of geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty.
Spot gold was up 0.4% at $4,957.10 per ounce, as of 0536 GMT, after scaling a record $4,966.59 earlier in the day.
U.S. gold futures for February delivery added 0.9% to $4,958.30 per ounce.
"Faith in the U.S. and its assets have been shaken, maybe permanently, and this is driving money into precious metals. So the word rupture has been thrown around. I don't think that's an exaggeration," said Kyle Rodda, a senior market analyst at Capital.com.
The dollar index hovered near a more than two-week low on Friday, having fallen 1% in the course of the week, making greenback-priced metals cheaper for overseas buyers, while Wall Street's main indexes saw a sharp sell-off earlier in the week as investors were spooked by fresh tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump on the EU, before recovering.
EU leaders heaved a sigh of relief over Trump's U-turn on Greenland as they met for an emergency summit in Brussels late on Thursday while issuing a warning that they were ready to act if Trump threatens them again.
The U.S. president for his part said he had secured total and permanent U.S. access to Greenland in a deal with NATO.
The details of any agreement remain unclear and Denmark insisted its sovereignty over the island isn't up for discussion.
Spot silver surged 2.8% to $98.87 an ounce, after hitting a record high of $99.34 earlier.
"The underlying story to silver is one about the outperformance of silver versus gold and its industrial applications," Rodda added.
Markets anticipate the Fed will deliver two quarter-percentage point rate cuts in the latter half of 2026, raising non-yielding gold's appeal. FEDWATCH
Spot platinum gained 0.8% to $2,650.90 per ounce after hitting a record $2,684.43 earlier, while palladium lost 0.6% to $1,908.02.
(REUTERS)
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