Tariff threats and a possible U.S. government shutdown drew investors to silver and gold, with both precious metals surging to new highs on Monday.
Investors raced for safety after President Trump said on Saturday he would put 100% tariffs on Canada if Prime Minister Mark Carney struck a trade deal with China. Also rattling traders are fears of a government shutdown after the deadly shooting in Minneapolis over the weekend led Senate Democrats to demand changes to homeland-security provisions in a government funding package.
The price of gold, a haven for nervous investors, rose 2.1% to $5,079.70 a troy ounce Monday to its seventh all-time high this year, extending a rally that has been fueled in part by concerns about the outlook for the U.S. dollar and other major currencies.
Silver prices also jumped, with the front-month futures contract surging 14% to a record $115.08 a troy ounce in its biggest single-day percentage gain since March 1985, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The precious metal has staged a breakneck rally in recent months, boosted by constrained supply as well as worries about mounting geopolitical risks.
The dollar weakened again Monday against a basket of currencies. Driving it down: Speculation that Washington and Tokyo were prepared to intervene to support the yen strengthened the Japanese currency.
U.S. stocks powered through geopolitical concerns to inch higher Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.6%, or about 314 points. The S&P 500 index and Nasdaq composite rose 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively.
"We've kind of been here, done that, a bunch of times already," said Jack Janasiewicz, a portfolio manager at Natixis Investment Managers Solutions. "We kind of know that these things get resolved."
Shares of mining companies rose. Freeport-McMoRan and Newmont shares both jumped 1.3%, Canada's Barrick Mining added 0.5% and Southern Copper climbed 2.2%.
Meanwhile, traders on prediction markets placed bets on the likelihood of another government shutdown. On Monday afternoon, prices on Polymarket implied a 73% probability of a shutdown by the end of January, up from less than 10% at the end of last week. A similar contract on rival platform Kalshi showed a 74% chance.
Investors are also awaiting a new batch of corporate earnings. Four of the Magnificent Seven big-tech companies report earnings in the coming days: Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Tesla report quarterly earnings on Wednesday, while Apple's results are due Thursday. Also on deck this week are General Motors, United Parcel Service, Southwest Airlines and Starbucks.
Some analysts say that they expect strong corporate earnings this year will help extend the stock rally. Companies in the S&P 500 are expected to report a roughly 15% jump in profits for 2026, according to FactSet.
"There are some elements that are concerning, but ultimately we expect that the market will manage through it and really focus on the core fundamentals," said Chris Shipley, co-chief investment officer at Fort Washington Investment Advisors.
Elsewhere, natural-gas prices extended last week's rally with a winter storm disrupting swaths of the country, holding up flights and leaving thousands without power. Futures for February delivery have roughly doubled from a week ago.
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