Gold and silver hit record highs as Greenland dispute spurs safe-haven buying

Gold and silver hit record highs on Monday, driven by a flight to safety after President Trump warned of extra tariffs on some European countries in a dispute over Greenland.

Spot gold jumped 1.7% to $4,672.49 an ounce by early afternoon, after scaling a record peak of $4,689.39.

US gold futures for February delivery advanced 1.8% to $4,677.70 an ounce.

Trump threatened several European allies with a series of escalating tariffs on Saturday unless the US is allowed to buy Greenland, intensifying a dispute over Denmark’s vast Arctic island.

“When institutional and policy risks resurface, markets tend to react swiftly by reallocating toward safe-haven assets, with gold once again emerging as the preferred choice,” said Linh Tran, senior market analyst at XS.com.

The dollar fell as Trump’s latest tariff threats raised investors’ appetite for safe-haven gold, the Japanese yen and Swiss franc in a broad risk-averse move across markets. 

Gold tends to do well during times of geopolitical and economic uncertainty, as well as when interest rates are low. It gained more than 64% in 2025 and is up more than 8% since the start of this year.

Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman said on Friday that a fragile job market with the potential to weaken quickly means the central bank should stand ready to cut interest rates again if needed.

Markets expect the Fed to leave rates on hold at its Jan. 27-28 meeting but are pricing in at least two cuts of 25 basis points this year. 

Elsewhere, spot silver climbed 5% to $94.41 an ounce after hitting a record high of $94.61. Silver has risen more than 32% since the start of the year.

Analysts at Citi Research said they remain tactically bullish on precious metals, setting price targets of $5,000 an ounce for gold and $100 an ounce for silver in the next three months, citing geopolitical tensions that are likely to stay elevated in the near term.

In other metals, spot platinum added 1.5% to $2,362.65 an ounce while palladium rose 1.1% to $1,819.99.