Precious metals rally: Silver crosses $65, Gold gains on labour market weakness

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Silver jumped past the $65-per-ounce mark for the first time on Wednesday, while gold edged higher after US jobs data showed a softening labour market, rekindling expectations of further rate cuts next year and boosting demand for precious metals.

Spot silver was up 3.2 per cent at $65.80 an ounce after rising to an all-time high of $65.99 earlier in the session. Spot gold prices rose 0.5 per cent to $4,322.93 an ounce by 0407 GMT.

US gold futures gained 0.5 per cent to $4,352.60.

Read more-Gold climbs 64% this year: What the US jobs report means next

“There is a major short squeeze (so speculative trade) happening in silver… and we are not seeing the supply side responding the way it should have after the US added silver to the critical minerals list,” said Kunal Shah, head of research, Nirmal Bang Commodities.

“Every country planning to enter the data center-AI space will need more of silver,” Shah said, noting that current trends could push silver towards $70.00 in the near term.

The rally followed US data showing the unemployment rate rose to 4.6 per cent in November, above a Reuters poll forecast of 4.4 per cent.

The unemployment data has definitely helped precious metals and weakened the dollar, prompting investors to look for other asset classes offering higher returns as a hedge against risk, GoldSilver Central MD Brian Lan said.

Investors now await the US Consumer Price Index data on Thursday and the Personal Consumption Expenditures index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, on Friday.

Last week, the Fed delivered its third and final quarter-point rate cut for the year, while Chair Jerome Powell’s accompanying comments were perceived as less hawkish than expected.

Traders still expect two cuts of 25 basis points each in 2026.

Non-yielding assets like bullion typically perform well in low-interest-rate environments.