Gold (GC=F) touched a record high on Monday, and silver prices (SIL=F) reached 12-year highs as this year's rally continues in the metals market.
Gold futures traded above $2,450 an ounce during early morning trading, surpassing previous nominal highs reached in April before paring gains. Silver also rose, hovering above $32 an ounce on Monday, its highest level since late 2012.
Gold has risen in recent months on expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut this year, coupled with strong demand stemming from central banks and Asian buyers. Silver has outperformed gold in recent weeks, rising by 35% this year, compared to gold's rise of 18%.
Copper (HG=F) prices also hit new highs on Monday, and analysts suspect a short squeeze has sent prices of the commodity higher in recent days. However, Michael Widmer, global head of metals research at Bank of America, said strong demand fundamentals are expected to continue over the next year.
“Overall, I think the structural bullish case for the copper market remains,” Widmer told Yahoo Finance on Monday. “This is a strong buy in a declining market.”
Widmer and his team expect copper, used in everything from electrical wires to machinery, to average $12,000 per ton in 2025, representing a 20% increase from current levels.
“Copper looks very strong over the next couple of years,” he added.
Unlike gold, silver is also used for industrial purposes, such as solar panel cells. Industrial demand for it It reaches a new record high in 2023 For the third year in a row, according to recent data from the Silver Institute, a nonprofit.
This makes silver's rise vulnerable to economic fluctuations, similar to what affects copper prices.
“There may be some silver hoarding, but the main thing that worries me most about silver is that it may follow this path — the self-correlation path in copper, which goes up and then back down again,” Mike McGlone, chief commodities strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence. Yahoo Finance said on Friday.
“On a macro level, big picture, I'm very favorable on commodities — most favorable to metals versus most other commodities,” McGlone said.
Ines Ferry is Yahoo Finance's chief business correspondent. Follow her on X in @ines_ferre.