If you thought precious metals were done making headlines, think again. Silver crashed through the $100-per-ounce barrier on Friday and kept climbing, trading around $101 by midday in New York. That's a 230% gain over the past year, which is the kind of move that makes you question whether you should have been buying shiny rocks instead of tech stocks.
Gold wasn't far behind in the dramatic milestone department, flirting with $5,000 per ounce. Just to put that in perspective, gold was trading nearly 80 percentage points lower a year ago. The precious metals party has been going strong, and Friday showed no signs of anyone wanting to leave early.
But the rally wasn't limited to gold and silver. The entire commodities complex seemed to be having a moment. Palladium jumped 6%, breaking above $2,000 per ounce for the first time since November 2022. Platinum surged 5% to fresh all-time highs above $2,700 per ounce. Even copper joined the fun, climbing 3% to $6 per pound.
Energy markets put on their own show. Henry Hub natural gas rose another 2% to $5.15 per million British thermal units, which doesn't sound like much until you realize that's more than 60% in gains for the week. That's the strongest weekly surge on record, fueled by the extreme cold wave that's been punishing America. Crude oil also advanced, with WTI rising more than 2% to near $61 a barrel.
Over on Wall Street, stocks decided to take a breather after two days of solid gains. By 1:00 p.m. in New York, the S&P 500 was trading basically flat, while the Nasdaq 100 managed to eke out a 0.5% gain. Small caps had a rougher time, with the Russell 2000 falling 0.6%.
The energy sector led the market for the second straight session, reaching levels last seen in 2014. Financials, on the other hand, were the day's underperformers, which makes sense given the sector rotation vibes.
The biggest individual story of the day belonged to Intel Corp. (INTC), which emerged as Friday's poster child for "don't disappoint Wall Street with your guidance." The chipmaker plunged more than 17% in its worst session since August 2024 after issuing weak guidance for the first quarter of 2026. That's the kind of drop that ruins portfolios and ruins weekends.
In the crypto world, Bitcoin rose 1.9% to $90,600, continuing its recovery but still well off its previous highs.
