MARKET REPORT: Silver Soars as Gold Hits Another Record

Precious metal prices rose yesterday as investors flocked to “safe” places to store their money amid uncertainty over the US election and tensions in the Middle East.

Gold hit an all-time high of $2,740 an ounce and silver surpassed $34 an ounce for the first time since 2012. Gold is up more than 30 percent this year, while silver is up 43 percent.

Shares in FTSE 100 gold and silver miner Fresnillo rose 6.3 per cent, or 44.5p, to 747.5p, making it the biggest blue-chip riser, while Hochschild advanced up 1.3 per cent, or 3p, to 238p and Centamin rose 2.1 per cent. or 3.6p, to 171.5p.

The rise in precious metals prices has been driven by expectations of further interest rate cuts by central banks around the world, as well as concerns about the outcome of the US elections and the conflict in Middle East.

The US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England are expected to cut rates again early next month, while the European Central Bank did so last week.

The People’s Bank of China also swung into action, cutting rates yesterday in a bid to revive the world’s second-largest economy.

Lower interest rates tend to boost the price of gold because it becomes relatively more attractive to investors. Bullion is also considered a “safe” asset in times of uncertainty.

With two weeks left until Election Day, the US election appears to be on a knife edge, while investors are also nervous about developments in the Middle East.

“The outlook for gold is quite bullish,” said Joni Teves, a strategist at UBS, who expects it to reach $3,000 next year.

He added: ‘There are many risks in the coming weeks, with the US elections just around the corner. “We could see choppy price action.”

The price of oil moved back closer to $75 a barrel, pushing BP up 1.3 percent, or 5.25 pence, to 404.85 pence, and Shell up 0.6 percent, or 14, 5 pence, to 2,551 pence.

But the broader market struggled for direction: the FTSE 100 index fell 0.5 per cent, or 40.01 points, to 8,318.24 and the FTSE 250 lost 1.2 per cent, or 242.98 points, to 20,906.6.

Pharmaceutical giant Astrazeneca got a shot in the arm when EU regulators approved its nerve damage treatment Wainzua.

The shares fell 0.1 per cent, or 16 pence, to 11,930 pence. Transport giant First Group gained 0.6 per cent, or 0.8p, to 140.1p after buying London coach company Anderson Travel for an undisclosed sum.

The deal will see First Group add around 40 coaches to its First Bus business, operating in central London and Heathrow Airport.

Anderson Travel made underlying profits of around £1m in the year to June 2023 on revenue of £7.3m.

Housebuilder Barratt Redrow fell 1.4 per cent, or 6.7p, to 481.4p after an upgrade from analysts at Morgan Stanley.

Magazine publisher Future, whose titles include Country Life, Homes & Gardens, Decanter, FourFourTwo and Marie Claire, rose 7.2 per cent, or 57.5 pence, to 852 pence, after falling 19 per cent in the Friday after announcing the departure of CEO Jon Steinberg.