US gold futures blasted to a 25-year peak on Friday on a down dollar and worries over Iran's atomic program, and the rally spilled into silver which was already rising after the launch of a new silver-backed fund.
Climbing oil and base metals prices and uncertainty about the US economy also stoked investment in the precious group, boosting gold 2.9 percent and silver 8.3 percent by the close.
Platinum futures, meanwhile, shot to an all-time peak, and palladium also ended sharply higher. Jon Nadler, analyst with bullion dealer Kitco, said a massive inflow of safe-haven and investor buying lifted gold and silver prices in the session.
"Precious metals have been on the front burner since midweek and have bulldozed through all kinds of real and potential price obstacles standing in the way," he said.
June delivery gold settled up $18.20 at $654.50 per ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division, after trading from $634 to $658.20. That session high was the priciest for COMEX futures since 1980, when they very briefly rose above $870 an ounce.
Spot gold surged to $651.80/652.80, compared with $634.20/5.20 late on Thursday in New York. Friday's afternoon London fix by bullion dealers was set at $644.
The economy grew at a steady clip of 4.8 percent in the first quarter - its fastest pace in 2-1/2 years and in line with forecasts - but inflationary pressures in the data were softer than expected, analysts said.
In silver, which is used in jewellery, industrial applications and dentistry, prices surged almost 9 percent early in trading but held shy of last week's 23-year peak of $14.69.
July delivery silver was up $1.04 to finish at $13.63 an ounce, in a range of $12.54 to $14.00. Barclays Global Investors' new exchange traded fund, called iShares Silver Trust, began trading on the American Stock Exchange on Friday under the symbol SLV.
Each share is worth 10 ounces of silver bullion. Almost 2.2 million shares had traded on Amex by early afternoon, when the price was quoted at $136.99 per share - up 6.2 percent. "I thought people would kind of buy the rumour, sell the fact, and to some extent that happened the other day, but that didn't follow through a lot," said a broker. "It seems like we're doing some consolidation here that could portend higher prices."
Silver prices also steadied Friday as it was first notice day for May delivery and speculative rollover into July futures was over. May closed at $13.51, up $1.04. Spot silver gained to $13.60/13.70 an ounce, versus $12.61/12.71 previously. The London fix was at $12.5550.
NYMEX July platinum jumped $17.20 to $1,163.30 an ounce by the close, after reaching a record $1,163.80 in the heat of the day' rally. Spot platinum went up to $1,152/1,156 an ounce. June palladium rose $12.75 to $377.05 an ounce. Last week, futures climbed to a four-year high at $388.50. Spot palladium ended at $370/375 an ounce.
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