<\/p>\n
(Bloomberg) — Silver prices touched an all-time high above $52.50 an ounce, as a historic short squeeze in London added momentum to a rally that\u2019s been fueled by surging demand for safe-haven assets.<\/p>\n
Spot prices rose as much as 0.4% to $52.5868 an ounce in London, surpassing a peak set in January 1980 on a now-defunct contract overseen by the Chicago Board of Trade \u2014 when the billionaire Hunt brothers attempted to corner the market. Gold also climbed to another record high, building on eight straight weeks of gains.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Most Read from Bloomberg<\/p>\n
Concerns about a lack of liquidity in London have sparked a worldwide hunt for silver, with benchmark prices soaring to near-unprecedented levels over New York. That\u2019s prompting some traders to book cargo slots on transatlantic flights for silver bars \u2014 an expensive mode of transport typically reserved for gold \u2014 to profit off higher prices in London. The premium was at about $1.55 an ounce in early trading on Tuesday \u2014 down from a spread of $3 last week.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Silver lease rates \u2014 which represent the annualized cost of borrowing metal in the London market \u2014 have been persistently high this year, but surged to more than 30% on a one-month basis on Friday. That\u2019s creating eye-watering costs for those looking to roll over short positions. A jump in demand from India in recent weeks has drawn down the supply of available bars to trade in London, following a rush to ship metal to New York earlier this year after worries that the metal could be hit with US tariffs sparked large dislocations between the two trading hubs.<\/p>\n
While precious metals were officially exempt from levies in April, traders remain on edge ahead of the conclusion of the US administration\u2019s so-called Section 232 probe into critical minerals \u2014 which includes silver, as well as platinum and palladium. The investigation has revived fears the metals could be swept up in new tariffs, exacerbating market tightness.<\/p>\n
The silver market \u201cis less liquid and roughly nine times smaller than gold\u2019s, amplifying price moves,\u201d Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts wrote in a note. \u201cWithout a central bank bid to anchor silver prices, even a temporary pullback in investment flows could trigger a disproportionate correction, as it would also unwind the London tightness that drove much of the recent rally.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The four main precious metals have surged between 56% and 81% this year, in a rally that\u2019s dominated commodity markets. Gold\u2019s advance has been underpinned by central-bank buying, rising holdings in exchange-traded funds, and rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. Demand for havens has also been aided by recurrent US-China trade tensions, threats to the Fed\u2019s independence, and a US government shutdown.<\/p>\n
On Monday analysts at Bank of America Corp. hiked their end-of-2026 price target for silver from around $44 an ounce to $65, citing persistent market deficits, elevated fiscal gaps and lower interest rates.<\/p>\n
Investors were also weighing the outlook for the Fed\u2019s monetary easing path ahead of the central bank\u2019s next interest-rate decision later this month. Philadelphia\u2019s Fed Bank President Anna Paulson on Monday signaled she favors two more quarter-point cuts this year as policy should look through the impact of tariffs in consumer price increases. Lower borrowing costs then to benefit precious metals, which don\u2019t pay interest.<\/p>\n
Spot gold was up 0.5% at $4,129.80 an ounce at 7:38 a.m. in Singapore, after climbing 2.3% on Monday. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was flat, after gaining about 1% last week. Silver was up 0.3%, while platinum and palladium jumped.<\/p>\n
–With assistance from Mark Burton.<\/p>\n
(An earlier version of this story corrected the time in the last paragraph)<\/p>\n
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek<\/p>\n
\u00a92025 Bloomberg L.P.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Bloomberg) — Silver prices touched an all-time high above $52.50 an ounce, as a historic short squeeze in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":497535,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[3662,748,393,4884,257,110236,98868,161573,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-497534","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-bloomberg","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-london","13":"tag-silver-bars","14":"tag-silver-prices","15":"tag-spot-prices","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115369881415397688","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=497534"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497534\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/497535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=497534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=497534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=497534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}