Gold prices climbed to a fresh all-time high on Tuesday, breaking through a key psychological level as escalating geopolitical tensions tied to the Trump administration’s stance on Greenland pushed investors firmly toward safe-haven assets.
By 08:45 ET (13:45 GMT), spot gold was up 1.1% at $4,730.47 an ounce, while February gold futures jumped 3% to $4,733.45 per ounce. Earlier in the session, spot prices touched a record peak of $4,737.45 per ounce.
Gold rallies on Trump–Greenland tensions
Bullion remained strongly supported as uncertainty surrounding President Donald Trump’s demands over Greenland fueled risk aversion and renewed selling pressure on the U.S. dollar, a combination that boosted precious metals.
On Monday, Trump reaffirmed his position on Greenland and, in an interview with NBC News, declined to rule out the use of U.S. military force to secure control of the island. Concerns over potential military action intensified earlier in January following U.S. involvement in Venezuela and the capture of President Nicolas Maduro.
Trump is now heading to the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, where he is expected to meet with several European leaders, keeping geopolitical risks firmly in focus.
Analysts at OCBC said that increasingly transactional and unpredictable U.S. foreign policy risks undermining confidence in the dollar and encourages diversification into alternative assets. They added that in such an environment, gold and other precious metals are supported less by direct conflict and more by persistent geopolitical uncertainty and policy unpredictability.
Silver extends strong 2025 gains
Rising global uncertainty has continued to push investors away from speculative assets and toward physical stores of value, a trend that helped drive a broad rally in metals through late 2025.
Both gold and silver have extended solid year-to-date gains, with gold up around 8% and silver surging roughly 30%, building on an already strong performance last year.
Analysts at ING said the rally has been fueled by a series of geopolitical shocks, including developments in Venezuela and ongoing uncertainty over Washington’s position on Greenland.
Spot silver jumped more than 7% to $95.185 per ounce, reaching a new record high, while spot platinum climbed over 4% to $2,418.45 per ounce.
David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation, said geopolitical uncertainty and a weaker U.S. dollar have made gold and silver preferred havens for investors. He added that silver’s relatively small market size, combined with supply concerns and short-squeeze narratives, has amplified the bullish momentum, though he cautioned that risks are increasing at current elevated levels.
Industrial metals also benefited from strong demand for physical assets. Benchmark copper futures on the London Metal Exchange slipped 0.8% to $12,872 per tonne but remained close to recent record highs.
ING noted that Trump’s tariff threats against several European countries weakened the dollar and triggered broad-based buying across metals. Sentiment was further supported by China’s GDP meeting government targets, helping to stabilize demand expectations after weeks of mixed economic data.
