- Bullion hits record high at $4,497.55, up over 70% this year
- Silver hits new high at $69.98, outpaces gold with 141% YTD gain
- Platinum at 17-year peak, palladium touches three-year high
Dec 23 (Reuters) - Gold touched a record high on Tuesday, just shy of breaching the $4,500 per-ounce threshold, as a weaker dollar and persistent geopolitical uncertainty boosted demand for the safe-haven metal, while silver continued its rally to an all-time peak.
Spot gold rose 0.8% to $4,482.70 per ounce, as of 1041 GMT, after hitting a record $4,497.55 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures for February delivery rose 1% to $4,514.70.
"Expectations for a dovish Fed, markets losing confidence in the greenback, geopolitical tensions, central bank buying.... Investors' lust of gold remains massive, due to a mix of all factors above," said Carlo Alberto De Casa, external analyst at banking group Swissquote.
The U.S. dollar extended losses to a second day and was on course for its biggest annual fall since 2017.
On the geopolitical front, U.S. President Donald Trump last week ordered a "blockade" of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, and said he was not ruling out the possibility of war with the country.
Meanwhile, markets are currently pricing in two interest rate cuts for 2026 as reports of Trump naming a new Federal Reserve chair early next year reinforce expectations for dovish monetary policy.
Bullion has climbed more than 70% this year as investors seek refuge amid global tensions and lower interest rates.
Spot silver advanced 0.9% to $69.61 per ounce after touching a record high of $69.98 earlier.
The white metal has risen 141% year-to-date on supply deficits, industrial demand, and investment inflows.
"Both gold and silver continue to attract buying strength. This behaviour suggests that $4,500 and $70 are being treated less as hard ceilings and more as reference points within ongoing trends, leaving both metals firmly supported for now and over the holidays," said Ahmad Assiri, research strategist at Pepperstone.
Spot platinum jumped 3% to $2,183.63, its highest in over 17 years, while palladium rose 3.2% to a three-year high of $1,815.76, tracking strength in gold and silver.
Reporting by Pablo Sinha and Arunima Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu
Source: Reuters