Gold and Copper Hit Records, Silver Soars to 12-Year Highs
Gold (GC=F) touched a record high on Monday and silver (SIL=F) prices neared 12-year highs as this year's rally in the metals market continues.
Gold futures traded hands just above $2,450 per ounce during early morning trading, breaking previous nominal highs reached in April before paring gains. Silver also surged to hover just above $32 per ounce Monday, its highest price since late 2012.
Gold has rallied in recent months on expectations of a Fed rate cut this year, coupled with strong demand stemming from central banks and Asian buyers. And silver has outperformed gold in recent weeks, gaining 35% this year against gold's 18% rise.
Copper (HG=F) prices also hit new highs Monday, and analysts suspect a short squeeze has sent prices for the commodity soaring in recent days. However, strong demand fundamentals are expected to continue over the next year, said Michael Widmer, global head of metals research at Bank of America.
"Overall, I think the structural bull case for the coper market remains in place," Widmer told Yahoo Finance on Monday. "This is firmly a buy the dip market."
Widmer and his team forecast copper, used for everything from electrical wiring to machinery, will reach an average of $12,000 per ton in 2025, a 20% upside from current levels.
"Copper looks fundamentally over the next two years very strong," he added.
Unlike gold, silver is also used for industrial purposes, such as solar panel cells. Its industrial demand hit a new high in 2023 for a third consecutive year, according to recent data from the Silver Institute, an industry nonprofit.
This makes silver's rise potentially susceptible to economic swings, similar to copper prices.
"There may be some hoarding of silver, but the key thing I'm more worried about silver is that it might follow that path — that autocorrelation path in copper, which spikes and then goes back down," Bloomberg Intelligence senior commodities strategist Mike McGlone told Yahoo Finance on Friday.
"In the macro, the big picture, though, I'm very favorable in terms of commodities — most favorable to metals versus most other commodities," said McGlone.
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