The following is a guest editorial courtesy of Carolane de Palmas, Markets Analyst at Retail FX and CFDs broker ActivTrades.

Three precious metals have dominated commodity markets in 2025, each breaking long-standing records and reshaping investor expectations. Gold surged above $4,400 per ounce for the first time, silver soared past $69, and platinum climbed to its highest level in more than 17 years above $2,085. While each metal has its own story, they share a common backdrop: a significantly weaker U.S. dollar, which is on track for its worst yearly performance in eight years and has dropped by around 9% versus a basket of key currencies. 

Expectations of Federal Reserve rate cuts, concerns over U.S. trade tensions and fiscal deficits, as well as political uncertainty have all weighed on the dollar in 2025. Because precious metals are priced in U.S. dollars, a weaker currency has made them more affordable for international buyers, amplifying demand and accelerating price gains. But there are other factors supporting precious metals…Let’s take a closer look:

Gold On Track For its Largest Gain Since 1979

Gold prices touched a record high on Monday above $4,428 per ounce according to ActivTrades’ trading data, up around 68% so far this year, as investors reacted to growing expectations that U.S. interest rates will be cut twice in 2026. When a central bank lowers its key rates, the opportunity cost of holding assets that don’t earn money usually goes down. This makes gold more appealing than other assets, such as cash and bonds, in this situation.

At the same time, heightened geopolitical risks have reinforced gold’s role as a safe haven. Trade tensions, questions surrounding the Federal Reserve’s independence, conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, and political uncertainty in Europe (especially in France) have all contributed to sustained demand for protection against volatility.

Institutional support has been a defining feature of gold’s advance in recent years. Goldman Sachs believes that central banks have been buying more gold to move away from the U.S. dollar and make their balance sheets more resilient. The bank also thinks that these forces are likely to keep supporting gold prices in 2026.

According to the World Gold Council, physically backed gold exchange-traded funds have recorded consistent inflows throughout the year, lifting total assets under management and holdings not far from record levels. Additionally, according to statistics gathered by Bloomberg, inflows into these types of ETFs have increased over the past four weeks. This steady accumulation has also provided a strong foundation for the yellow metal price rise, reinforcing gold’s status not just as a hedge against inflation, but as a strategic asset in an increasingly fragmented global economy.

Daily Gold Chart – Source: ActivTrades

Silver Up Around 138% In 2025 So Far

The metal is on pace for its best annual performance according to LSEG data, since data collection began in the early 1980s. One clear sign of silver’s catch-up has been the sharp fall in the gold-to-silver ratio, which has dropped to around 65 from above 100 earlier in the year. Historically, that ratio has tended to move within a much narrower range, suggesting silver has been undervalued according to HSBC. Some experts also view silver’s surge as a classic spillover play, arguing that record-high gold prices are driving capital toward silver as a more accessible store of value investment.

Unlike gold, silver seems to be both an investment tool and an useful industrial metal. It is a superior conductor of electricity and plays a critical role in electric vehicles, solar panels, advanced batteries, and the infrastructure supporting artificial intelligence and data centers. The acceleration of clean energy adoption and the AI boom have driven a surge in industrial consumption. 

At the same time, silver supply has had a hard time keeping up. Most silver is extracted when other metals are mined, which makes it harder for the industry to act quickly when the demand is rising. As a result, the silver market has remained in deficit for the fifth consecutive year, a structural imbalance that has underpinned prices.

Investment flows have reinforced this trend. Physically backed silver ETFs have seen strong inflows in the first part of this year, already exceeding the total inflows of 2024. By mid-2025, global holdings of 1.13 billion ounces (Boz) were approaching levels last seen during the 2021 peak of 1.21 Boz, according to the Silver Institute. 

Geopolitical uncertainty, concerns over trade tariffs, and the metal’s designation as strategically important to the U.S. according to the United States Geological Survey’s (USGS) have added further support. With the United States importing roughly two-thirds of its silver and the metal now listed as critical to economic and national security, silver’s rally has increasingly reflected both financial and strategic considerations.

Daily Silver Chart – Source: ActivTrades

Platinum At A 17-Year High

The metal is posting gains of more than 130% in 2025. Long overshadowed by gold and even silver, platinum has become one of the best-performing commodities of the year. Despite the sharp rally, platinum remains historically cheap relative to gold, a factor that has encouraged investors to rotate into the metal in search of value according to the CME Group.

Supply constraints have been central to platinum’s resurgence. The market is on track for its third consecutive annual deficit in 2025, with supply remaining tight. These structural shortages have been compounded by geopolitical factors, including uncertainty over U.S. trade policy and the potential for tariffs, which have disrupted supply chains and increased competition for available metal. Security of supply has become a dominant theme, particularly as platinum is considered as a critical mineral in many economies.

Beyond traditional uses, platinum’s importance in the global energy transition has strengthened its long-term outlook. The metal plays a key role in hydrogen technologies and fuel cells, positioning it at the heart of future clean energy systems according to the World Platinum Investment Council. As governments and industries invest in decarbonization, platinum’s strategic relevance has become more apparent, adding a new layer of demand to an already tight market.

Daily Platinum Chart – Source: ActivTrades

Sources: The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, The World Gold Council, BBC, The SIlver Institute, Bloomberg, Yahoo Finance, CME Group, The World Platinum Investment Council

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