Gold price continues to surge but silver decouples
Published: 03:51 21 Jan 2026 EST
Gold miners were topping the leaderboard again on Wednesday as the price of gold continued to surge higher, while silver prices further decoupled.
Spot gold prices topped $4,888 an ounce in early trading, up 2% on the day and up from around $4,300 at the start of the year.
Silver, after topping $95/oz on Tuesday, up from $76 at the turn of the year, has flattened off, even dropping back below $94/oz during Wednesday morning trades.
Shares in FTSE 100 listed Endeavour Mining PLC (LSE:EDV, TSX:EDV, OTCQX:EDVMF) rose 3.8% on Wednesday morning, up close to 20% since the start of the year and 180% over the past 12 months. On the FTSE 250, Pan African Resources PLC (AIM:PAF, OTCQX:PAFRY, JSE:PAN) and Hochschild Mining PLC (LSE:HOC, OTCQX:HCHDF) were both up over 2.3% on the day, 240% and 1740% over the past year.
This followed a sell-off of US stocks overnight and in Europe over the past few days, following Donald Trump's threat to impose tariffs on eight European countries that are opposing his wish to take control of Greenland.
Trump will make a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos today, and will meet various other leaders at the summit.
Market analysts said the rally in gold reflected investors moving money away from riskier assets to those seen as safer havens.
Rising demand for gold "is a good indicator of how uncertain and tense markets have become", said Swissquote Bank analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya.
Volatility in equities and bonds was rising, she said.
"Developed-market sovereign bonds no longer offer the diversification investors need in the current environment. They remain under pressure from geopolitical tensions that will drive higher security spending, at a time when debt levels are already unsustainable.
"Where does capital go? Into gold, silver, copper, industrial metals, rare earths – hard commodities. In short, investors are moving into anything tangible."
Bitcoin was playing little to no role in this asset flight, with the cryptocurrency falling to $89K.
