Silver, which has doubled its price in just 3.5 months, hit a record US$100.29 an ounce in trading, also on strong demand for the metal that is used in solar panels and electronics as well as for making jewellery.

Sister metal gold was closing in on an all-time peak of US$5,000 an ounce Friday as investors increasingly turn to the go-to commodity in times of economic turbulence.

“As high-risk as gold may be, it has nothing on silver which continues to outperform in the most extraordinary fashion,” noted David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation.

Silver is in tight supply as buyers also snap it up for use in artificial intelligence data centres.

The metal had on Oct 9 reached a record US$50 an ounce, which was the highest level since 1980.