PRECIOUS-Gold, silver and platinum extend record‑setting rally

By Ishaan Arora

Jan 23 (Reuters) - Gold notched another record high on Friday, while silver and platinum also extended gains to hit all-time peaks, powered by diminishing confidence in U.S. assets on account of geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty.

Spot gold XAU= was down 0.4% at $4,917.37 per ounce, as of 0851 GMT, after scaling a record $4,967.03 earlier in the day, up 14% in less than a month in 2026. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 for February delivery added 0.2% to $4,921.70 per ounce.

"Faith in the U.S. and its assets have been shaken, maybe permanently, and this is driving money into precious metals. So the word rupture has been thrown around. I don't think that's an exaggeration," said Kyle Rodda, a senior market analyst at Capital.com.

The dollar index .DXY hovered near a more than two-week low on Friday, having fallen 1% in the course of the week, making greenback-priced metals cheaper for overseas buyers, while Wall Street's main indexes saw a sharp sell-off earlier in the week as investors were spooked by fresh tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump on the EU, before recovering.

EU leaders heaved a sigh of relief over Trump's U-turn on Greenland as they met for an emergency summit in Brussels late on Thursday while issuing a warning that they were ready to act if Trump threatens them again.

The U.S. president for his part said he had secured total and permanent U.S. access to Greenland in a deal with NATO while the details of any agreement remain unclear.

The record gold rally has been driven by a combination of central bank buying and investor flows into ETFs as a hedge against global policy risks and macro uncertainty. This has been further fueled by expectations of U.S. rate cuts in 2026.

The Fed is expected to hold rates steady at its January 27–28 meeting, but markets are still pricing in two further rate cuts in the latter half of 2026, raising non-yielding gold's appeal. FEDWATCH

Gold premiums in India jumped this week to their highest level in more than a decade, as investors rushed to buy the metal on expectations of a duty hike in the upcoming budget, while China premiums dipped as international spot gold prices neared the historic $5,000/oz mark. GOL/AS

Spot silver XAG= surged 1.7% to $97.85 an ounce, after hitting a record high of $99.34 earlier, a yearly gain of 37% thus far in 2026.

"The underlying story to silver is one about the outperformance of silver versus gold and its industrial applications," Rodda added.

Spot platinum XPT= lost 0.3% to $2,622.80 per ounce after hitting a record $2,684.43 earlier, up 27% year-to-date, while palladium XPD= fell 1.8% to $1,885.75.