Spot gold climbed 1 percent to an all-time high at US$4,384.50 (HK$34,117) an ounce by 02:03 GMT. US gold futures added 0.7 percent to US$4,416.30.
Spot silver rose 2.2 percent to hit a record high at US$68.65.
Gold, a traditional safe-haven asset, is up 67 percent for the year, driven by geopolitical and trade tensions, robust central bank buying, and hopes of lower rates next year. Silver has gained 125 percent year-to-date, outpacing gold.
US consumer prices rose 2.7 percent year-on-year in November, data showed, falling short of the 3.1 percent increase forecast by economists polled by Reuters.
Futures on the federal funds rate indicated a slightly increased chance of the Fed trimming rates at its January meeting, after the data.
Last week, data showed that the US unemployment rate rose to 4.6 percent, surpassing a Reuters poll of economists’ estimates of 4.4 percent, the highest since September 2021.
Fed Governor Christopher Waller, who is in the running to be chosen as Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s successor, said last week that the Fed still had more room to cut rates.
Non-yielding assets such as gold tend to do well in a low-interest-rate environment.
Elsewhere, Goldman Sachs sees gold prices climbing 14 percent to US$4,900/oz by December 2026 in its base case, on structurally high central bank demand and cyclical support from Fed interest rate cuts, the brokerage said in a note on Thursday.
Platinum rose 2.6 percent to US$2,028.34, a more than 17-year high. Palladium added 3.8 percent to US$1,772.74, a near three-year high.
