Spot silver prices jumped to the highest level in decades as surging demand for safe-haven assets ran into supply constraints in the London bullion market.
The precious metal jumped as much as 4.8 per cent to touch $US51.235 an ounce overnight, the highest since a notorious squeeze orchestrated by the billionaire Hunt brothers in 1980, before paring gains.
Silver’s surge has lifted prices by more than 70 per cent this year, beating gold’s record-breaking rally . It’s part of a growing search for haven assets sparked by fears of fiscal risks in the US, an overheating equities market and threats to the Federal Reserve’s independence.
A shortage of freely available silver in the key London market has added fuel to the gains, while also pushing up the cost of borrowing the metal there t