Madness on the bullion market. Gold is at new peaks, platinum is the most expensive since 1987, and silver has gained 150%.

Gold, silver and platinum prices hit historic highs on Friday. This is facilitated by growing geopolitical tensions and the weakening of the US dollar, dealers say.

Gold rose 1.2% to peak above $4,530 an ounce. Gold has reached an all-time high amid growing tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela, the U.S. military attack on Islamic State and the weakening of the USD, increasing the attractiveness of this precious metal.

Additionally, investors are also counting on Fed interest rate cuts, and lower borrowing costs support precious metal prices.

Other precious metals also gain on Friday and reach historic highs: silver gained as much as 4.6%, climbing above USD 75 per ounce.

You have a lot of trades or paper positions in silver and now you have to cover them with physical volume and the supply of silver is not enough to meet the demand, said Manav Modi, commodities analyst at Motilal Oswald Financial Services Ltd.

“You have to feed the +paper+ silver with real bullion,” he added.

Platinum prices rose above USD 2,400 per ounce – for the first time since 1987 – and this year it has already gained 160%. In addition to strong physical demand, global supply of the metal used in the automotive and jewelry sectors is heading toward an annual deficit this year, mainly due to disruptions in major platinum producer South Africa.

Gold has gained over 70% this year and silver has gained over 150%.

aj/