Gold hit $600 an ounce for the first time since 1980 and copper stormed to a record of $6,001 a tonne today as investment funds scrambled for alternatives to stocks, bonds and foreign exchange.
With oil surging through $69 a barrel and the dollar tipped for another bout of weakness, funds have flocked to gold and other commodities.
Gold, which has gained 16% this year and 41% in the past 12 months, touched $604 an ounce - its highest since December 1980 - before easing to $597.30/598.10 later this afternoon.
Inflation worries, Middle East tensions and uncertainties over the US dollar's outlook also helped gold, which has doubled its price in the past four years, to climb further.
Silver rose to a new 23-year high of $13.01 an ounce.
And as investors also took shelter in base metals on supply worries, copper galloped to a record high, punching through to the virgin territory of $6,000 a tonne. News that Grupo Mexico had declared force majeure due to strikes at its Mexican mines lent support to copper, taking its gains to more than 35% this year.
Copper, used in construction and electronics, has risen more than four-fold from below $1,400 in November 2001 on strong demand and tight supply after years of under-investment in new mining projects.
