Gold and silver hit all-time highs on Friday, reinforcing their safe haven appeal amid uncertain economic conditions stemming from US President Donald Trump's apparent intention to seize Greenland and bets on US interest rate cuts.
Gold, widely considered a hedge against inflation, settled 1.61 per cent higher at $4,988.56 an ounce, knocking on the door of the $5,000 level, data from GoldPrice.org showed.
The value of the precious metal, which broke many barriers in 2025, has now soared more than 77 per cent in the past 12 months.
Silver, meanwhile, exceeded the $100 mark for the first time, closing 7.45 per cent higher at $103.30 an ounce. The metal widely used in jewellery and industry has risen by nearly 214 per cent over the past year.
“Precious metals are no longer just a hedge – they are becoming a core component of strategic portfolio positioning in uncertain times,” said Islam Saleh, a senior equity trader at Amman-based Capital Investments.
“Markets are reminding us that when uncertainty rises, capital flows to assets with enduring value,” she said.
Major stock markets, meanwhile, closed the week mostly down, with Wall Street posting a timid finish on geopolitical issues.
Investors digested the market's direction as the US and its western allies are at odds over Mr Trump's desire to take control of Greenland. The President had threatened to impose tariffs on countries backing Greenland if they did not agree to his plan. Anxiety over the Fed's next move has also been on investors' minds.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, long on the verge of a historic 50,000-point plateau, gave up 0.58 per cent. The S&P 500 was virtually flat, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite added nearly 0.3 per cent.
Wall Street indices received a lift on Thursday after government data showed that the US economy, the world's biggest, expanded 4.4 per cent in the third quarter of 2025, which was higher than estimated.
American consumer spending, which makes up about two thirds of US gross domestic product, posted strong gains in October and November, data had shown. The labour market, however, remained tepid.
The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, the Fed's main tool to measure inflation, rose from 2.6 per cent to 2.9 per cent in November, in line with expectations.
“While the Fed has been out of focus recently, strong growth and above-target inflation have sharply reduced the probability of near-term rate cuts,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, noting that Fed funds futures imply now just a 16 per cent chance of a rate cut in March, sharply down from 50 per cent at the start of 2026.
In Europe, London's FTSE 100 also felt the pinch of geopolitical tensions, surrendering 0.07 per cent at the close.
Paris' CAC 40 declined 0.1 per cent, while Frankfurt's Dax eked out a 0.2 per cent gain.
Earlier in Asia, stock markets were mostly up, with bourses in Singapore, Seoul and Taipei hitting new highs on economic optimism. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 added about 0.3 per cent.
Chinese stocks also gained, with the Shanghai Composite up 0.3 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index settling 0.5 per cent higher.
Oil, meanwhile, spiked by 3 per cent, recovering from a sharp drop the previous day, as US threats of military action against Iran and an outage at Kazakhstan's vital Tengiz oilfield stoked supply disruption concerns.
Brent jumped 2.84 per cent to settle at $65.88 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate leapt 2.88 per cent to $61.07.
