The precious metals market continues to heat up, as gold prices remain around the historical peak, while platinum accelerates strongly, approaching the 2,000 USD/ounce mark, after a series of lower-than-expected US inflation data, raising confidence that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will have room to ease monetary policy.
The US core consumer price index unexpectedly increased at the slowest pace since the beginning of 2021, thereby reinforcing the view that the Fed's interest rate cutting cycle has not ended. Last week, the US central bank cut interest rates for the third time in a row, continuing to create a support for non-yielding assets such as gold, silver and platinum.
However, the Fed is still giving cautious signals about the easing roadmap in 2026. The market is currently only about 25% likely to cut interest rates in January, but has almost fully reflected a rate cut in April.
platinum leads the wave, up more than 110% since the beginning of the year
In the precious metals group, platinum is emerging as the focus, increasing by more than 110% since the beginning of the year, extending the increase streak to the sixth consecutive session and aiming for the strongest increase in decades. platinum's rally is even superior to gold and silver two metals that have recorded explosive profits this year.
Geopolitical factors continue to amplify the increase of precious metals. Tensions have escalated in Venezuela, after US President Donald Trump ordered a blockade of sanctioned tankers, causing demand for safe havens to increase significantly in recent sessions.
The real yield trend is shifting towards the advantage of precious metals, said Mr. Dilin Wu, Research Strategist at Pepperstone Group (Australia). According to him, in the context of prolonged geopolitical instability and declining market liquidity by the end of the year, the precious metal is gradually regaining its role as an investment portfolio stabilization.
Over the whole year, gold prices have risen by about two-thirds, heading for their strongest year since 1979, thanks to persistent buying by central banks and large inflows into gold ETFs.
platinum's breakthrough is also fueled by tight supply in the London market, as banks move metals to the US to prevent tariff risks. In addition, demand from China continues to improve, especially after platinum futures began trading on the Guangzhou Commodity Exchange.
The trading volume and number of opened contracts in Guangzhou skyrocketed, while the platinum price on this exchange was significantly higher than international standards, contributing to the wave of price increases in the global market.
As of this afternoon's trading session, gold prices have been moving sideways at $4,321.90/ounce. platinum rose 1% to $1,928.39 an ounce, after hitting its highest level since 2008. Silver prices fell slightly, while palladium increased. Bloomberg Dollar spot Index decreased by 0.01%.
