Gold and silver rose to record highs as fears about credit quality in the US economy and heightened frictions between Washington and Beijing strengthened demand for havens.
Bullion rose as much as 1.2% to US$4,379.93 an ounce on Friday — putting it on track for its biggest weekly gain since 2008 and extending a breakneck rally that began in August. The buying spree, also supported by wagers the Federal Reserve could deploy an outsized rate cut this year, has spilled over into other precious metals.
Silver smashed through an all-time high set in 1980 this week on a now-defunct contract overseen by the Chicago Board of Trade. Prices for the white metal edged higher to hit a fresh peak at US$54.3775 an ounce on Friday, before paring gains. Palladium and platinum were also on track for hefty weekly advances.
Broader markets were jolted on Thursday as two US regional lenders disclosed problems with loans involving allegations of fraud, adding to concern that more cracks are emerging in borrowers’ creditworthiness. The reports roiled markets less than a week after the re-flaring of the US-China trade war, adding to ongoing uneasiness caused by the dearth of economic data during the shutdown in Washington. The combination of jitters boosted demand for havens.
Gold on Track for Best Week Since 2008 | Global credit jitters and US-China tensions drive haven demand
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Traders are also piling into wagers on at least one jumbo US rate cut by year-end, while Fed Chair Jerome Powell signal'ed this week the central bank is on track to deliver another quarter-point reduction this month. That would benefit precious metals, which don’t pay interest.
China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao on Thursday blamed the recent escalation in tensions on the US and warned against decoupling. That followed inflammatory comments from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who on Wednesday lashed out at a top Chinese trade official — saying he turned up in Washington recently uninvited and behaved in an “unhinged” fashion typical of Beijing’s so-called wolf warrior diplomats.
Gold has surged more than 65% this year, underpinned by central bank buying, inflows to exchange-traded funds and soaring demand for haven assets in the face of geopolitical and trade tensions, rising fiscal and debt levels, and threats to the Fed’s independence.
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Gold and Silver Soar as Investors Pile into Havens This Year
Silver, meanwhile, has run even harder — surging almost 90% so far in 2025 — with gains underpinned by some of the same macro factors driving gold. The market’s also been gripped by a historic squeeze in London, where a lack of liquidity has sparked a worldwide hunt for the metal as benchmark prices soared above futures in New York.
Over the past week, more than 15 million ounces of silver have been withdrawn from warehouses linked to the Comex futures exchange in New York. Much of that is likely headed to London, where it should help ease market tightness. The price gap between the two trading hubs remains unusually wide at 70 US cents an ounce, though that’s narrower from a spread of as much as US$3 last week. Silver edged up 0.1% on Friday at 7:57 a.m. in Singapore, just short of its latest peak posted earlier in the session, and up more than 8% for the week.
Spot gold was up 1% to US$4,369.14 an ounce, on track for a weekly gain of 8.7%. Platinum was up 8% for the week, while palladium jumped 16%. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index dipped 0.1% on Friday.
