Jan 27 (Reuters) - Gold prices climbed to an all-time high on Tuesday as persistent economic and geopolitical uncertainty drove investors to the safe-haven metal.
Spot gold gained 2.4% to $5,136.47 per ounce as of 03:12 p.m. EST (2012 GMT). Prices breached the key $5,000 mark for the first time on Monday.
U.S. gold futures for February delivery settled little changed at $5,082.60 per ounce.
Gold has already surged more than 18% so far this year, building on last year's record rally, driven by a combination of factors including rising geopolitical and economic uncertainty, expectations of U.S. interest-rate cuts and increased central bank purchases amid a global de-dollarization trend.
"Rallies normally end because the drivers that took people into the gold market originally dissipate - and that's just not the case," said Michael Widmer, commodities strategist at Bank of America.
Concerns mounted as President Donald Trump announced plans on Monday to impose new tariffs on South Korean imports, while the risk of a partial U.S. government shutdown loomed ahead of the January 30 funding deadline.
Markets are focused on the U.S. Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting starting Tuesday, with interest rates expected to be unchanged and investors watching Fed Chair Jerome Powell's press conference on Wednesday amid mounting worries about the central bank's independence. FEDWATCH/
Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank and Societe Generale now forecast gold prices to reach $6,000 per ounce by the end of the year.
CME Group said on Tuesday that its metals complex reached a single-day record of 3,338,528 contracts on January 26, surpassing the previous record of 2,829,666 contracts set on October 17, 2025.
Spot silver jumped 6.9% to $111.11 an ounce after hitting a record high of $117.69 on Monday. It has already surged more than 55% so far this year, after recording a 146% gain last year.
"There's going to be a lot of volatility ahead, with risks of sharp pullbacks (in silver)," said Bank of America's Widmer, adding that strong fundamentals and exchange-traded-fund inflows could support a $170 price target.
Citi upgraded its short-term silver price forecast to $150 per ounce from $100 earlier.
Spot platinum fell 5.6% to $2,604.38 per ounce after hitting a record $2,918.80 per ounce in the previous session, while palladium lost about 4% to $1,904.25.
Reporting by Anmol Choubey in Bengaluru; Editing by Paul Simao, Shinjini Ganguli and Pooja Desai
