Silver Rises Toward Record as ETF Investors Add Fuel to Rally

Silver traded near an all-time high, reinforced by the strongest week since July for inflows to exchange-traded funds backed by the precious metal. Gold was steady.

The white metal edged up to around $58.50 an ounce, within a dollar of the record hit during the previous session. Total holdings of silver-backed ETFs rose by nearly 590 tons last week, a strong bet by investors that the metal’s rally still has further to run.

Silver’s recent surge has also been supported by increased expectations that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates this week, a tailwind for non-yielding precious metals. The market is also still dealing with the aftershocks of a historic short squeeze in London.

Silver rose 0.3% to $58.4875 an ounce as of 7:42 a.m. Singapore time, close to the record of $59.3336 hit on Friday. Gold was little changed at $4,200.25 an ounce, after ending last week about 1% lower. The was flat. Platinum gained, while palladium was steady.