PRECIOUS-Gold rises ahead of Fed rate cut decision, silver hits $60/oz milestone

By Anjana Anil and Anushree Mukherjee

Dec 9 (Reuters) - Gold rose on Tuesday as traders remained optimistic ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest rate decision, while silver rose to hit the unprecedented $60 per ounce milestone as the white metal faced supply constraints.

Spot gold XAU= rose 0.6% to $4,215.19 per ounce by 11:11 a.m. ET (1610 GMT). U.S. gold futures GCcv1 for February delivery added 0.6% to $4,244.80 per ounce.

Spot silver XAG= climbed over 4% to $60.52 per ounce, an all-time high.

"People are anticipating that there's going to be strong industrial demand for silver for years to come, which is why it's been bid up, the silver price," said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index and FOREX.com, adding that the buying momentum is strong at the moment.

Silver prices have been supported by persistently low supplies and dwindling global inventories, expectations of the U.S. Federal Reserve easing interest rates, as well as its recent addition to the U.S. critical minerals list.

"The move in gold right now is attributed to the big spike in silver and the high expectations for another quarter-point cut," said RJO Futures senior market strategist Bob Haberkorn.

The Fed's two-day policy meeting kicks off today and ends with a decision on Wednesday.

The U.S. Labor Department's JOLTS report showed job openings rose by 12,000 to 7.67 million in October, beating forecasts of 7.15 million, indicating a strong labor market that could weigh on rate cut expectations.

Traders now see an 87.4% chance of a 25-basis-point cut this week, dropping by 2% after the latest jobs report. FEDWATCH

Gold has shrugged off the jobs report, Haberkorn said, and added "we could see silver trade over $70 an ounce in the first half of 2026, and gold is on a path towards $5,000 an ounce."

Sectors including solar energy, electric vehicles and their infrastructure, and data centers and artificial intelligence will drive industrial demand higher through 2030, the Silver Institute industry association said in a research on Tuesday.

"Metals are volatile by nature, but unless we fix the deficit, silver only has one way to go, and that is up," said Maria Smirnova, senior portfolio manager and chief investment officer at Sprott Asset Management.

Platinum XPT= gained 2.8% to $1,688.30/oz, while palladium XPD= rose 2.6% to $1,503.43/oz.