Gold File photo: VCG

   
Spot gold broke through the $4,500 per ounce for the first time on Wednesday, with other noble metals, including silver and platinum, also hitting all-time highs. 

Analysts attributed the price hikes to investors' strong safe-haven buying and growing bets on more US interest rate cuts in the coming year.

The new high of spot gold price, hitting $4,511.93 at the highest on Wednesday, came after the price of gold futures rose to $4,519.30 per ounce on Tuesday, setting a new high, the Bloomberg reported.

The spot silver price also reached a historical high of $71.87 per ounce during the trading session on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, the price of COMEX gold futures further rose to $4,515.50 per ounce.

According to Bloomberg, the price of gold is up more than 70 percent to date this year, its best run since 1979, while silver has gone fully parabolic, surging about 150 percent as investors pile into hard assets amid fears of currency debasement and ballooning debt.

"The market expects that the US Federal Reserve may implement at least two more rate cuts in 2026. If the cuts materialize, the US federal funds rate could fall back to around 3 percent. Against the backdrop of ongoing rate cuts, the US Dollar Index has shown a clear declining trend since October 2025," Yang Delong, chief economist at Shenzhen-based First Seafront Fund, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Yang said that against this backdrop, international gold and silver prices have surged significantly in 2025, and the market generally believes this upward trend may continue into 2026. 

"This reflects growing concerns among global investors about the US dollar-centered international credit system. The continuous rise in US federal debt, combined with uncertainties in its trade policy, is driving investors, including central banks worldwide, to treat gold as a major strategic asset. Silver, with both monetary and industrial attributes and wide applications in fields like photostatic, saw price gains in 2025 that at times even outpaced gold," said Yang.

Besides gold and silver, international copper and platinum prices both hit all-time highs this week. International copper prices have been rising steadily since October this year.

On Tuesday local time, copper futures on the London Metal Exchange (LME) broke through the $12,000-per-ton mark, drawing market attention. 

Overnight, the LME three-month rolling copper futures reached an intraday high of $12,160 per ton and closed at $12,060.5 per ton. Year-to-date, the copper futures have risen nearly 38 percent, on track for their largest annual gain since 2009.

Analysts expect further upside swng for platinum. Spot platinum prices have surged to a record high, breaking above $2,300 per ounce for the first time on Wednesday. 

Analysts said that platinum group metals are key materials in automotive catalytic converters. The price hikes came after the recent easing of the EU's 2035 ban on internal combustion engines.

Global Times