Gold surged to a record high above $5,500 an ounce, extending a rapid rally driven by a weakening US dollar and a growing investor flight from sovereign bonds and currencies.
Bullion jumped by as much as 3.2%, building on a 4.6% surge in the previous session, marking its biggest one-day gain since the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020. Precious metals have posted dramatic gains this year amid heightened geopolitical tensions and concerns over the independence of the US Federal Reserve, reinforcing demand for assets seen as protection against currency debasement. Silver also climbed to an all-time high on Thursday.
Traders largely looked past the Federal Reserve’s widely expected decision on Wednesday to keep interest rates unchanged. With a new Fed chair expected to replace Jerome Powell later this year, BlackRock Inc.’s Rick Rieder, a vocal advocate of more aggressive rate cuts, has emerged as a leading contender. This has fueled market expectations of a more dovish monetary policy stance, which typically benefits non-yielding assets such as precious metals.
As of 9:05 a.m. in Singapore, gold was up 1.1% at $5,477.36 an ounce, after touching a record intraday high of $5,588.71 earlier in the session. Silver rose 0.7% to $117.47 an ounce, while platinum and palladium edged lower.
Meanwhile, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index slipped 0.1% on Thursday and was down 1.3% for the week, further supporting gains in precious metals.
