Bullion climbed to a record high above $4,967 an ounce on Friday and was on track for a weekly gain of nearly 8%, supported by a weaker dollar, News.Az reports, citing Bloomberg.
Silver advanced to an all-time high just below $100 an ounce, while platinum also hit a record.
Meanwhile, a key gauge of the U.S. currency was on course for its weakest weekly performance in seven months, making precious metals cheaper for most buyers and further supporting the rally.
Fresh from its best annual performance since 1979, bullion has extended a breakneck rally to gain a further 15% in the early part of this year. US President Donald Trump’s renewed attacks on the Federal Reserve, as well as military intervention in Venezuela and threats to annex Greenland, have added impetus to the so-called debasement trade, whereby investors pull back from sovereign bonds and currencies in favor of alternative havens like gold.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its year-end gold price forecast to $5,400 an ounce from a previous estimate of $4,900, citing intensifying demand from private investors and central banks.
Poland’s central bank, which ranks first in the world in terms of reported purchases of gold, this week approved plans to buy another 150 tons as it braces for more geopolitical instability. Meanwhile, India’s holdings of US Treasuries have fallen to a five-year low as gold and other alternatives take a larger share, joining a broader shift by some major economies out of the world biggest bond market.
Investors are now awaiting Trump’s pick for the next Fed chair after the US president said he has finished interviewing candidates, reiterating that he has someone in mind for the job. A more dovish leader would increase bets on further interest-rate cuts this year — a positive for non-yielding bullion — after three successive reductions.
Silver, riding on gold’s rally, has more than tripled over the past year. The white metal has also been boosted by a historic short squeeze and a wave of retail buying that left banks and refiners scrambling to meet unprecedented demand.
Confusion surrounding a Chinese policy update on export licenses has amplified the perception of scarcity, while the market remains exceptionally volatile even after the US refrained from slapping blanket import tariffs on critical minerals including silver and platinum.
Silver’s elevated prices and wild swings also mean banks cannot take the same risks they used to, said Robert Gottlieb, a former precious metals trader. That means banks “need to greatly reduce positions, leading to more volatility and wider spreads,” he said.
Gold rose 0.3% to $4,952.02 an ounce as of 12:17 p.m. in Singapore. Silver jumped 2.6% to $98.70. Platinum edged up 0.4%, having earlier hit a record of $2,690.08, while palladium fell. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was flat, having ended the previous session down 0.3%.
