Precious metals rebounded on Tuesday, after falling sharply in the previous session, as the market refocused on geopolitical and economic risks, reigniting gold’s rally to cap its best year since 1979.
Spot gold rose 0.9% to $4,369.59 per ounce at 11:29 a.m. ET (1629 GMT). On Monday, it recorded its biggest daily percentage loss since October 21 as profit-taking pushed it down from Friday’s record high of $4,549.71.
U.S. gold futures were up 1% at $4,386.40.
“We saw very extreme volatility yesterday where we saw strong action in Asian trading to the upside and then rather substantial profit-taking... but things have stabilized somewhat today, the trade remains generally favorable,” said Peter Grant, vice president and senior metals strategist at Zaner Metals.
Gold, seen as a safe-haven asset, has surged 66% in 2025 — its steepest climb since 1979 — propelled by a perfect storm of interest rate easing, geopolitical flashpoints, robust central bank purchases and flows into bullion-backed-ETFs.
All eyes now turn to the U.S. Federal Reserve and the release of minutes of its December meeting later on Tuesday. Traders see two rate cuts next year, a scenario that could keep the wind at non-yielding gold’s back.
“The market remains skeptical on the Russia-Ukraine peace deal, and the broader measures of geopolitical risk remain elevated,” supporting prices, Grant said. Russia accused Ukraine of trying to attack President Vladimir Putin’s residence and vowed retaliation, denting prospects for a peace deal. Ukraine said the claim was baseless.
Silver rose 4.7% to $76.38 per ounce. It hit an all-time high of $83.62 on Monday, before logging its biggest daily drop since August 2020, with analysts at Societe Generale also pointing to a move by the CME Group to raise its initial margin requirement for silver futures on Friday.
Silver has soared 161% this year, driven by its inclusion on the U.S. critical minerals list, supply deficits and growing industrial and investor appetite.
Platinum rose 4.7% to $2,208.94 per ounce. It also touched a record high on Monday, of $2,478.50, before logging its biggest-ever one-day drop.
Palladium rose 0.7% to $1,628, after falling around 16% on Monday.