Gold, silver and platinum sparkle at all-time peaks
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SILVER extended its record rally on Tuesday, breaching the key US$70-an-ounce mark, while gold and platinum also touched historic highs.
Spot silver rose 3.2 per cent to US$71.22 per ounce as of 3.12 pm ET (20.12 GMT), after touching a record high of US$71.49 earlier. Prices are up 147 per cent year-to-date.
“At the bottom of this is the reality of supply and demand in a market that has been in deficit for five years, alongside increasing industrial demand. The safe-haven aspect, expectations of a weaker dollar and lower yields are also contributing to the bid,” said Peter Grant, vice-president and senior metals strategist at Zaner Metals.
“Silver’s next target is US$75, but year-end profit-taking could trigger a pullback.”
The US dollar fell in a holiday-shortened week. A weaker dollar makes dollar-priced metals more attractive to overseas buyers.
Spot gold added 1.1 per cent to US$4,492.99 per ounce after hitting a record US$4,497.55.
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Bullion has surged about 70 per cent this year, driven by geopolitical tensions, US rate cuts, strong central bank buying and robust investment demand.
US gold futures for February delivery settled 0.8 per cent higher at US$4,505.7.
“We continue to see the longer-term thematic of central bank foreign reserve diversification as a major tailwind for gold prices through the end of the decade,” analysts at SP Angel said in a note.
“We see gold rising towards US$5,000/ounce next year,” the note said.
In the latest flare-up in geopolitical tensions, US President Donald Trump last week ordered a “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, and said he was not ruling out the possibility of war with the country.
Spot platinum was 6.8 per cent up at US$2,268.95, after scaling a record high of US$2,274.10 per ounce earlier in the day. Palladium gained 6.5 per cent to a three-year high of US$1,874.22. The sister metals are used in automotive catalytic converters, where they help reduce harmful emissions.
Earlier this month, the European Commission published plans to abandon an effective 2035 ban on combustion engine cars.
This news is “a steroid jab for PGMs (platinum group metals), prolonging their use in catalytic converters,” analysts at Mitsubishi said in a note this week. REUTERS
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