Gold and silver climbed to record highs on Friday, driven by safe-haven demand and increased bets of ‍further U.S. interest ‍rate cuts next year, while precious metals platinum and palladium ​were on the upswing as well.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold rose 0.5% to $4,502.75 per ounce, ⁠as of 0225 GMT, after hitting a record high at $4,530.60 earlier in the session. U.S. ⁠gold futures ‌for February delivery climbed 0.7% to a record high of $4,533.60 per ounce.

* Spot silver jumped 3.4% to $74.35 per ounce, before hitting an ⁠all-time high at $75.14.

* The U.S. dollar hovered near the two-month lows it reached on Wednesday.

* Bullion has staged a stellar rally in 2025, climbing 72% so far and shattering multiple record highs.

* Gold has been helped ⁠by a cocktail of ​factors, including U.S. interest rate cuts and bets of further easing, geopolitical uncertainty, robust central bank demand as ‍countries look to move away from U.S. securities and the dollar, and rising holdings in exchange-traded ​funds.

* Silver has gained 158% year-to-date, far outpacing gold, and breaking through the $75 mark, propelled by a structural deficit, its inclusion in a U.S. critical minerals list, and strong industrial demand.

* On the geopolitical front, the White House has ordered U.S. military forces to focus almost exclusively on enforcing a "quarantine" of Venezuelan oil for at least the next two months, a U.S. official told Reuters, indicating Washington is currently more interested in using economic rather than military means to pressure ⁠Caracas.

* On the macroeconomic front, traders still expect ‌two U.S. rate cuts next year.

* Non-yielding assets such as gold tend to do well in a low-interest-rate environment.

* Spot platinum was up 5% at $2,334.35 ‌per ounce, after ⁠rising to an all-time high of $2,377.50 on Wednesday, while palladium rose 4.4% to $1,757.25 per ⁠ounce.

(Reporting by Ishaan Arora in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)