Silver hits record after topping peak from October squeeze

Silver has surged almost 90 per cent this year, as investors pile into alternative assets in a wider retreat from government bonds and currencies, dubbed the dabasement trade. Photo by VladK213/Getty Images/Postmedia files

Silver jumped to a record, surpassing a peak set during a historic squeeze in the London market in October.

Spot prices surged as much as 4.2 per cent to about US$55.66 an ounce. The white metal has been supported by rising hopes of a Federal Reserve interest-rate cut in December, inflows into bullion-backed exchange-traded funds and ongoing supply tightness.

Friday also saw erratic price moves and thin liquidity in the silver market, after a chaotic hours-long halt to trading in futures on the CME’s Comex Exchange . By early morning United States-time, most