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Silver extended gains to 13-year highs and platinum reached the highest since early 2022, signaling growing investor appetite for precious metals used in key industries.
Spot prices for both metals continued to rally on Friday after spikes of more than 4% in the previous session. Gold slipped as bond yields and the dollar pushed higher after a slightly-better-than-expected jobs report prompted traders to trim bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates twice this year.
Silver, platinum and palladium were aided by technical momentum as well as improving fundamentals, with a strong appetite for physical silver in India and resurgent Chinese platinum demand reinforcing the rallies, according to a note by Nicky Shiels, head of metals strategy at Geneva-based MKS PAMP SA.
Silver and platinum tend to trade in tandem with gold, which is seen as a haven in times of geopolitical uncertainty. Gold is up 26% this year as an expanding US-led tariff war boosted its safety appeal and central banks maintained elevated levels of buying.
Silver and platinum had been lagging behind, but they are now catching up, with year-to-date gains of 25% and 29%, respectively. Both are driven by the ebbs and flows of industrial demand.
Silver is a key input into photovoltaic solar panels, while platinum is used in catalytic converters in combustion engines and laboratory equipment. Both markets are heading for a deficit this year, following several years in which demand outstripped supply.
Holding above $35 an ounce remains a “critical inflection point” for silver which, if sustained, should reignite retail interest, Shiels said. Meanwhile, a potential renewal in demand for platinum-backed exchange-traded funds could produce a speculative rally, given sticky and elevated lease rates indicate the market is tightening, she said.
Platinum ETF holdings are showing signs of picking up, and have expanded more than 3% since mid-May, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Inflows into silver-backed ETFs have continued to grow since early February, with holdings up 8%.
Palladium also benefited from growing positive sentiment across the precious metals complex, climbing as much as 4% on Friday.
Spot silver rose 1.1% to $36.04 an ounce as of 10:45 a.m. in New York. Platinum gained 2.8%, while gold slipped 0.6%. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose.
(By Sybilla Gross and Jack Ryan)