Gold Struggles as Silver Prices Surge to Record Highs

London, England – On Tuesday, gold prices continued to decline while silver surged, marking the longest period of diverging prices in the 21st century. Silver reached a significant milestone of $37 per ounce, its highest price in 13 years.

Silver’s value increased by 2.0%, breaking away from gold’s downward trajectory for a series of five consecutive sessions. This is the first time this has occurred since April 2019 and only the sixth five-day diverging run in recent history.

According to historical data, silver and gold prices typically move in the same direction 78.9% of the time across the last fifty years and 75.7% over the past year. The last comparable divergence occurred in December 1999, with earlier instances traced back to March 1973.

“Despite gold’s ratio to silver and platinum favoring the latter recently,” remarked analysts from UBS, a Swiss bank, “it’s challenging to determine if market participants are engaging in ratio trades.” They also noted how the current price movements are hard to ignore.

The US Dollar index declined to around 91, remaining above last Tuesday’s 10-week low of 90.5, but significantly lower compared to silver’s price in past months during the Trump trade tariffs period.

“Gold’s pause bodes well for the next leg higher,” UBS analysts commented. “Bullish sentiment surrounding gold remains steady.” Nicky Shiels, a strategist at MKS Pamp, expressed that gold is targeting an all-time high of $3500, driven by escalating geopolitical tensions, particularly between Israel and Iran.

In contrast, base metals such as copper and aluminum showed gains for the second consecutive session, while global stock markets increased despite ongoing conflicts and casualty reports in Iran, Israel, Gaza, and Ukraine.

Over the last month, silver’s price movements have shown a positive correlation with copper, sharing a strong relationship illustrated by an r-squared value of 51.8%.

Additionally, Brent crude oil prices rose above $78 per barrel, the highest since late January, following threats from Tehran to close the crucial Strait of Hormuz, an essential shipping route.

While gold currently trades approximately $10 below the $3400 per ounce mark, platinum prices exceeded $1260, reaching a four-year high last week. Silver prices in UK Pounds topped £27.40 per Troy ounce, as gold dipped below £2500.

Silver in euros also climbed to €32 per ounce for the fourth time since October, while gold prices in euros remained below April’s record peak of €3035.