Gold, copper hit records and silver hits 12-year highs as the metals’ rally continues

Gold (GC=F) hit a record high on Monday and silver (SIL=F) hit a 12-year high as this year’s rally in the metals market continues.

Gold futures traded just above $2,450 an ounce in early morning trading, breaking previous April nominal highs before paring gains. Silver also rose Monday to just above $32 an ounce, the highest level since late 2012.

Gold has risen in recent months on expectations of a Fed rate cut this year, along with strong demand from central banks and Asian buyers. And silver has outperformed gold in recent weeks, gaining 35% this year, while gold is up 18%.

Copper prices (HG=F) also hit new highs on Monday, and analysts suspect a short squeeze has sent prices for the commodity soaring in recent days. However, strong demand fundamentals are expected to continue in the coming year, said Michael Widmer, global head of metals research at Bank of America.

“Overall, I think the structural bull case for the copper market remains,” Widmer told Yahoo Finance on Monday. “This is clearly a buy-the-dip market.”

Widmer and his team predict that copper, used for everything from electrical wiring to machinery, will average $12,000 per tonne by 2025, a 20% increase from current levels.

“Copper looks fundamentally very strong over the next two years,” he added.

Unlike gold, silver is also used for industrial purposes, such as solar panel cells. The industrial demand reached a new high in 2023 for the third consecutive year, according to recent data from the Silver Institute, an industry nonprofit.

This makes silver’s rise potentially sensitive to economic fluctuations, similar to what affects copper prices.

“There could be some hoarding of silver, but the main thing I’m more concerned about is that it could follow that path – that autocorrelation path in copper, which peaks and then goes down,” says Mike McGlone, senior commodity strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence. Yahoo Finance said this on Friday.

“However, on a macroeconomic level, I am very bullish on commodities, most favorably for metals over most other commodities,” McGlone said.

Ines Ferre is a senior business reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X @ines_ferre.