Silver Surges, Gold Nears Record in Flight to Havens

Bloomberg/Yahoo Finance---"Silver prices climbed to the highest in almost seven years and gold continued its march toward a record on expectations there'll be more stimulus to help the global economy recover from the coronavirus pandemic. Investors have flocked to the metals on surging demand for havens amid a resurgence in virus cases, slowing growth, negative real interest rates in the U.S., flaring political tensions and a weaker dollar. The vast amounts of stimulus unleashed by governments and central banks have also aided prices and, after the success of a European rescue package this week, the focus turns to negotiations on legislation to prop up the American economy. Silver jumped more than 8% on Wednesday - the biggest gain since March - and has been getting an added boost from supply concerns and optimism about a rebound in industrial demand. 'The closer gold gets to its record high the stronger the magnetic field will become and that could see it challenge that level before long,' said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank A/S. Silver should also continue its run as long as it has support from higher gold, as well as a weaker dollar and bets for more industrial demand, he said....Investors also weighed mounting China-U.S. tensions, with the Asian nation vowing to retaliate after the U.S. forced the closure of its Houston consulate...The fear of missing out is driving a flood of speculative money into gold, piling on top of January-June's heavy physical demand."