Commodity summary: Oil prices rebound, silver soars, gold prices hit new highs

WTI oil prices rebounded on Monday, but remained below $60 a barrel. Silver prices soared, driven by a historic short squeeze in the London market, and gold hit new highs. Luntong is approaching an all-time high.
WTI crude rose 1%, rebounding from Friday's 4.2% plunge, the biggest decline since May. Stocks also moved higher, providing support for oil prices.
Dennis Kissler, senior vice president of trading at BOK Financial, said: "Traders remain skeptical that the trade situation may remain volatile until a deal is reached, which could be a factor suppressing crude oil in the short term. On the other hand, WTI oil prices below $60 per barrel should continue to reduce the number of oil rigs, which will eventually translate into a decline in U.S. production."
WTI crude oil futures for November delivery rose 1% to $59.49 a barrel in New York.
Silver prices hit their highest level in decades as the historic short squeeze in London intensified.
Silver prices rose more than 4% at one point, breaking through $52 an ounce, surpassing last week's intraday high. The price of gold hit a new high, breaking through US$4,115 per ounce, continuing its eight-week consecutive rise. Platinum and palladium prices also rose strongly.
Concerns about lack of liquidity in London are pushing silver prices closer to the record high of $52.50 an ounce set in 1980; benchmark London prices have also soared to near-unprecedented levels relative to silver prices in New York, prompting some traders to book transatlantic flights to transport silver bullion to profit from London's huge premiums, an expensive method of transportation that is often only used to transport higher-value gold.
Last week, the annualized cost of borrowing silver for a month in the London market soared to more than 30%, making the cost of rolling over short positions surprisingly high; the cost of borrowing for gold and palladium also rose, indicating a general tightening in the supply of precious metals in the London market.
On Monday,Bank of America analysts raised their end-2026 target price for silver to $65 from about $44 an ounce, citing continued market gaps, higher fiscal deficits and lower interest rates.
At 3:10 pm New York time, spot silver rose 4.03% to US$52.1686/ounce, and spot gold rose 1.95% to US$4,096.0/ounce.
Copper prices in the London market rose near all-time highs on Monday, and the current spread narrowed sharply, putting pressure on short position holders.
LME's three-month copper rose more than 3% at one point to above $10,800 a ton, regaining Friday's decline.
At the same time, spot prices in London surged more significantly, as the market entered a spot premium structure that usually signals tight supply; the spot was at a discount at the opening, but the spot premium closed at US$224.25 per ton, the second-largest increase in a single day since records began in 1994.
Many traders and industrial companies hold short positions in LME to hedge inventories. When spot prices are higher than futures, the cost of rolling over these positions becomes higher.
Alastair Munro, senior base metals strategist at Marex, said Monday's surge in spot prices was driven in part by such position rollover activity.