Gold, Silver and Platinum Sparkle at All-Time Peaks

Silver extended its record rally Tuesday, breaching the key $70 an ounce mark, while gold and platinum also touched historic highs.

Spot silver rose 2.7% to $70.90 per ounce after touching a record high of $71.06 earlier. ‍Prices are up 145% year-to-date.

"At the bottom of this reality of ‍supply and demand in a market that has been in deficit for five years, alongside increasing industrial demand. The safe-haven aspect, expectations of ⁠a weaker dollar and lower yields is part of that equation," said Peter Grant, vice president and senior metals strategist at Zaner Metals.

"Silver's next target is $75 ​but year-end profit-taking could trigger a pullback."

The U.S. dollar fell in a holiday-shortened week. A weaker dollar makes dollar-priced metals more attractive to overseas buyers.

Spot gold edged up 0.7% to $4,476.22 per ounce, as of ‍12:21 p.m. ET (1721 GMT), after hitting a record $4,497.55.

Bullion has surged about 70% this year, ⁠driven by geopolitical tensions, U.S. rate cuts, strong central bank buying, and robust investment demand.

U.S. gold futures for February delivery gained 0.8% to $4,503.70.

"We continue to see the longer-term thematic of central bank foreign reserve diversification as a major tailwind for gold prices through the end of ⁠the decade," analysts at SP Angel ​said in a note.

"We see ⁠gold rising towards $5,000/ounce next year," the note added.

In the latest flare-up in geopolitical tensions, U.S. President Donald Trump last ‍week ordered a "blockade" of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, and said he was not ruling out ‌the possibility of war with the country.

Spot platinum scaled a record high of $2,252.70 per ounce. Palladium gained 6.1% to a three-year high of $1,865.93. The sister metals are used ⁠in automotive ​catalytic converters, where they help ‍reduce harmful emissions.

Earlier this month, the European Commission published plans to abandon an effective 2035 ban on combustion engine cars.

This news is "a steroid jab ‍for PGMs (platinum group metals), prolonging their use in catalytic converters," analysts at Mitsubishi said in a note this week.