Silver hit a record price of more than $80 an ounce yesterday before tumbling sharply as Donald Trump’s talks on Ukraine sparked wild trading.

The precious metal soared to as high as $83.62 – taking gains since Christmas to 16 per cent.

But it then reversed course and dived a similar amount back to $70.49 in one of the precious metal’s biggest-ever moves.

It was a similar story for gold – also seen as a safe-haven asset – which surged to $4,548.92 an ounce, close to a record high, before falling steeply to end the day 4.7 per cent lower.

And platinum climbed to a record $2,457.50 – later also going sharply into reverse.

Meanwhile, defence stocks – which have soared since Vladimir Putin’s tanks entered Ukraine – had a rocky session.

Analysts attributed the sharp reversal for gold and silver yesterday to profit-taking after a bumper year, coupled with the prospects of a more stable geopolitical environment should peace prevail in Ukraine.

It came after Trump said on Sunday he and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky were ‘getting a lot closer, maybe very close’ to an agreement.

Gold tends to attract investors at times of geopolitical strife. That, combined with heavy demand from central banks to build their stocks of the precious metal, together with falling US interest rates, has seen its price rise by more than two-thirds this year.

Silver – which has also been boosted by supply shortages and its rising importance as a critical ingredient – has enjoyed even more stunning gains, almost trebling in value.

That has also helped shares in London-listed precious-metals miners surge, with Fresnillo yesterday cementing its status as the FTSE 100 index’s top performer this year when it bounced by as much as 5 per cent.

It later gave up the rally to close 0.2 per cent lower.

But with just two more days of trading to go in 2025, it is up by more than 400 per cent so far this year – easily ahead of any other top-flight stocks.

Endeavour Mining, another precious metals firm, is up by nearly 200 per cent this year – though it ended 4 per cent lower yesterday.

Victoria Scholar, of Interactive Investor, said: ‘Gold is under pressure as investors look to lock in profits before year-end after a very strong run.

‘Potential progress between Trump and Zelensky has also dampened demand for precious metals. Silver has had a wild ride, breaking above $80 earlier to hit a record high before pulling back.’

Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 saw thin trading volumes on its first day since the Christmas break and ended little changed, down 0.04 per cent.

But it has had an impressive year and is ahead by more than 20 per cent for 2025 so far.

Defence stocks took a turn lower, with BAE falling 0.8 per cent and Babcock down 3.4 per cent.

BAE is still 48 per cent higher so far this year, but it has dropped by nearly a fifth since a peak in October. 

Babcock’s year-to-date increase of more than 140 per cent is even more impressive, though it has lost some 8 per cent since October.