The city’s residents hoping to cash in on a precious metals rally are buying up bars of silver as an alternative to gold that they say has become “too expensive” after reaching record highs.
After a precious metals shop in Hong Kong’s central business district announced that hundreds of silver bars had sold out for the day on Wednesday, murmurs of disappointment rippled through a waiting queue.
Despite increasing its supply to cater to strong demand, the store saw hundreds of bars snapped up in just over an hour.
Retiree Ken Wong, 65, began queueing at the precious metals shop Lee Cheong at around 5am local time and managed to buy five bars.
He said that buying silver offered him the chance to invest in a safe-haven asset quickly on the rise, whereas gold has become “too expensive”.
Wong said that thanks to US President Donald Trump’s mercurial policies, he and many others have the opportunity to profit from the inflated prices of the precious metals.
The price of gold surged to a record of more than US$5,588 (RM21,888) an ounce yesterday as investors sought safe places to put their money amid growing nervousness over rising global turmoil sparked by US policies.
Silver also struck an all-time peak above US$119 (RM466) an ounce, and is up more than 60% this year, having surged more than 140% in 2025. — AFP
