Gold, silver and platinum extend record‑setting rally

Published
An employee uses a hammer to clean a gold ingot during the refining process at AGR (African Gold Refinery) in Entebbe, Uganda, October 4, 2018 — REUTERS/File Photo
An employee uses a hammer to clean a gold ingot during the refining process at AGR (African Gold Refinery) in Entebbe, Uganda, October 4, 2018 — REUTERS/File Photo

Gold notched another record high on Friday, while silver and platinum also extended gains to hit all-time peaks, powered by diminishing confidence in US assets on account of geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty.

On Jan 1, the 10-gram and one-tola gold rates stood at Rs234,568 and Rs273,600, based on the global gold rate of $2,624 per ounce.

Today, spot gold was up 0.4 per cent at $4,957.10 per ounce, as of 05:36 GMT (10:36am PKT), after scaling a record $4,966.59 earlier in the day.

US gold futures for February delivery added 0.9pc to $4,958.30 per ounce.

“Faith in the US and its assets has been shaken, maybe permanently, and this is driving money into precious metals. So the word ‘rupture’ has been thrown around. I don’t think that’s an exaggeration,” said Kyle Rodda, a senior market analyst at Capital.com.

The dollar index hovered near a more than two-week low on Friday, having fallen 1pc over the course of the week, making greenback-priced metals cheaper for overseas buyers, while Wall Street’s main indexes saw a sharp sell-off earlier in the week as investors were spooked by fresh tariff threats from US President Donald Trump on the EU, before recovering.

EU leaders heaved a sigh of relief over Trump’s U-turn on Greenland as they met for an emergency summit in Brussels late on Thursday while issuing a warning that they were ready to act if Trump threatens them again.

The US president for his part said he had secured total and permanent US access to Greenland in a deal with Nato.

The details of any agreement remain unclear and Denmark insisted its sovereignty over the island isn’t up for discussion.

Spot silver surged 2.8pc to $98.87 an ounce, after hitting a record high of $99.34 earlier.

“The underlying story to silver is one about the outperformance of silver versus gold and its industrial applications,” Rodda added.

Markets anticipate the US central bank will deliver two quarter-percentage point rate cuts in the latter half of 2026, raising non-yielding gold’s appeal.

Spot platinum gained 0.8pc to $2,650.90 per ounce after hitting a record $2,684.43 earlier, while palladium lost 0.6pc to $1,908.02.

Follow Dawn Business on X, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook for insights on business, finance and tech from Pakistan and across the world.

Opinion

Editorial

Banking inertia
Updated 13 Jul, 2026

Banking inertia

PRIME Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s latest call to banks to expand lending to SMEs is nothing new. Every government...
Justice imperilled
13 Jul, 2026

Justice imperilled

THE Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and the International Federation for Human Rights have raised concerns about...
Toxic staple
13 Jul, 2026

Toxic staple

A RECENT article published in Dawn has shed light on the challenges being faced by Sindh’s chilli farmers, whose...
Mixed messaging
Updated 12 Jul, 2026

Mixed messaging

In case the parleys fail, a return to full-scale war would be the likely outcome.
Way forward
12 Jul, 2026

Way forward

A GROUP of estranged PTI leaders, calling themselves the ‘National Dialogue Committee’ and led by figures like...
Recalled orders
12 Jul, 2026

Recalled orders

WHILE justice should be blind, it should not be oblivious to the human suffering some decisions may cause. This is...