While Wall Street traded in a subdued session marked by thin liquidity and low volumes following the Christmas market closure, price action turned wild across precious and industrial metals.
By midday trading in New York, silver prices — as tracked by the iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) — surged more than 6%, breaking above $76 an ounce, fueled by an intensifying supply crunch across Asian markets.
The move pushed silver’s year-to-date gains to roughly 164%, marking the metal’s strongest annual performance since 1978.
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The surge extended well beyond silver. Platinum jumped more than 8%, while palladium soared over 11%. The Aberdeen Physical Platinum Shares ETF (NYSE:PPLT) is up 165% year to date, putting platinum on track for its best year on record.
Gold also pushed to fresh highs, rising 1.3% to above $4,550 an ounce, while copper climbed 4.6%, fully recovering from the sharp selloff seen last July.
In energy markets, WTI crude slipped more than 1.5% amid signs of progress on peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to meet President Donald Trump at the White House on Sunday.
Among equities, copper producer Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) led the S&P 500, gaining about 3%. Target Corp. (NYSE:TGT) followed, up 2.1%, after activist investors disclosed new stakes in the retailer.
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Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) rose more than 1% after Wall Street analysts welcomed the company’s reported $20 billion strategic deal with AI startup Groq, a move they say will further strengthen Nvidia’s competitive moat in artificial intelligence.
The S&P 500 traded flat near 5,930 points after touching a fresh intraday record of 5,945 earlier in the session. The index is on track to post its eighth consecutive monthly gain — its longest winning streak since 2018.
In crypto markets, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) traded little changed around $87,000.
|
Index |
Price |
% Change |
|---|---|---|
|
Nasdaq 100 |
25,672.66 |
+0.10% |
|
S&P 500 |
6,933.20 |
+0.02% |
|
Dow Jones Industrial Average |
48,688.73 |
-0.09% |
|
Russell 2000 |
2,529.80 |
-0.72% |
According to Benzinga Pro data:
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The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) was flat at $634.23.
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The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) moved 0.2% lower to $486.17.
-
The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series (NASDAQ:QQQ) eased 0.02% to $623.81.
-
The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) traded at $250.96.
-
The Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLB) outperformed, up 0.3%; the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) lagged, down 0.6%.
