The precious metals market is witnessing records tumbling every trading week.
Gold on COMEX rose to a record high of $4,969.69 per ounce earlier on Friday, nearing the coveted $5,000-per-ounce mark.
Meanwhile, silver continued to outperform gold in dramatic fashion and came within a whisker of hitting $100 an ounce.
Meanwhile, oil prices rebounded sharply on Friday after concerns about a potential disruption to supplies were heightened by US President Donald Trump’s renewed threats against Iran, which come at a time when Kazakhstan is also experiencing production outages.
Base metals prices also rose sharply on Friday as the dollar weakened against a basket of major currencies.
Silver hits $100
Silver prices on COMEX hit a historic landmark on Friday as the white metal breached the $100-per-ounce mark for the first time ever.
Silver soared over 6.5% on Thursday after the briefest period of consolidation. And it went on to break above $100 per ounce later on Friday.
The price of silver has thus more than tripled within a year, while the price of platinum has risen to two and a half times the level compared to a year ago. The gold/silver ratio is now 50, compared to 90 a year ago.
“This really looks like a market in the midst of a blow-off top, with talk of supply shortages and a massive short squeeze bringing in fresh buying momentum,” said David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation.
There’s an awful lot of FOMO out there, and that has the potential to push prices up even further.
The extended nature of this rally naturally increases the likelihood of a significant and sudden reversal, Morrison added.
Silver looks toppy up here. But I’ve been saying that for ages now and have been repeatedly wrong.
At the time of writing, the most-active silver March contract was at $99.442 per ounce, up 3.1%. The metal had hit a record high of $100.160 per ounce earlier in the day.
Gold approached $5,000
Even as silver’s rise dwarfed that of gold’s, the yellow metal is well on its way to creating history.
On Friday, gold prices on COMEX hit a record high of $4,969.69 per ounce, just shy of the historic landmark of $5,000.
The 14% price increase since the year’s start is partially attributed to worries regarding US President Donald Trump’s stated intention to implement tariffs on European partners concerning Greenland.
Gold prices dipped briefly below $4,800 per ounce on Thursday. This drop followed President Trump’s announcement on Wednesday evening of an agreement resolving the Greenland dispute.
The agreement appears to have prevented a new round of tariff escalations by removing the planned tariff increases against several EU countries.
“However, gold did not fall back to the levels seen before the escalation of the conflict, but had essentially stabilized at higher levels,” Thu Lan Nguyen, head of FX and commodity research at Commerzbank AG.
This already indicated that the market is still cautious about fully pricing out the risks associated with US ambitions in Greenland.
The speed of the finalisation is key, according to Nguyen. The unratified EU-US trade “deal,” stalled by recent tensions, shows that informal agreements are unreliable.
However, if it becomes increasingly clear that an amicable agreement will be reached between the US and Denmark and the EU, the gold price is likely to give up some of its gains of the last few days.
Oil jumps
Oil prices rebound on renewed threats from President Trump against Iran, which heightened concerns that military action could disrupt crude supplies.
This concern was compounded by ongoing production outages in Kazakhstan.
Earlier in the day, prices had risen due to Trump’s actions concerning Greenland.
However, they subsequently fell by approximately 2% on Thursday after he withdrew tariff threats against Europe and dismissed the possibility of military intervention.
The US has reached a deal with Denmark and NATO allowing “total access” to Greenland, according to a statement by President Trump on Thursday.
Simultaneously, Trump renewed warnings to Tehran, stating the US has an “armada” headed toward Iran, which he hopes will not be deployed.
He cautioned Iran against killing protesters or restarting its nuclear program. A US official confirmed that warships, including an aircraft carrier and guided-missile destroyers, are scheduled to arrive in the Middle East soon.
The US had previously conducted strikes on Iran last June.
Iran is a significant global oil producer, ranking as OPEC’s fourth-largest crude oil producer, with approximately 3.2 million barrels per day according to OPEC data.
It is positioned behind Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates. Furthermore, Iran is a key exporter of crude oil to China, the world’s second-largest oil consumer.
Oil output has not yet restarted at Kazakhstan’s immense Tengiz oilfield, one of the globe’s largest, according to Chevron. This follows a shutdown announced by the Chevron-operated Tengizchevroil (TCO) on Monday due to a fire.
This incident has worsened the difficulties facing Kazakhstan’s oil sector, which is already struggling with congestion at its main Black Sea export route after it sustained damage from Ukrainian drone attacks.
“The next few weeks will reveal if the bears are ready to launch a renewed attack to drive prices to new cycle lows,” said Trade Nation’s Morrison.
Alternatively, there could be a change in trend if sellers switch to the buy-side.
At the time of writing, the price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil was at $61.04 per barrel, up 2.9%, while Brent was 2.8% higher at $65.83 per barrel.
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