Silver Roars Higher on Short Squeeze as Gold Rallies to Record

Silver hit the highest in decades as a historic short squeeze in London and US-China trade tensions roiled the market, while gold rallied to a record aided by broad investor enthusiasm toward precious metals.

Spot silver climbed as much as 2.7% to top $51 an ounce — exceeding last week’s intraday high — as gold surpassed $4,060 an ounce, building on a run of eight weekly gains. Platinum and palladium also gained strongly.

Precious metals have surged this year, with the complex’s main quartet of members surging between 50% and 80%, in a rally that’s dominated commodity markets. Gold’s ...