Gold hit a new all-time high on Friday, surpassing $4,300 per ounce, and is on track for its best week since 2020, as weakness in U.S. regional banks, rising global trade tensions, and expectations of further interest rate cuts drove investors toward “safe-haven” assets.

The spot price of gold rose 0.3% to $4,336.18 per ounce, having earlier touched a record high of $4,378.69. U.S. December futures climbed 1% to $4,348.70.

Overall, the precious metal has gained 8% over the week, setting record highs in every session. This marks its strongest weekly performance since March 2020.

Global Tensions and Monetary Easing Boost Demand

China launched new accusations against the United States for creating “panic” over rare earth export controls, while rejecting calls to lift the restrictions.

Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Board member Christopher Waller expressed support for another rate cut, citing concerns about the labor market. Investors now expect a 25-basis-point reduction at the Fed meeting on October 29-30, with another cut possible before the end of the year.

On Wall Street, indices closed lower on Thursday as signs of instability in regional banks heightened investor concerns, already on edge due to U.S.-China trade tensions.

Specifically, in the U.S., the bankruptcy of two banks linked to the automotive sector, Tricolor and First Brands, was among the first events to raise concerns in the credit market. Jefferies and UBS were exposed to First Brands’ collapse, with $715 million and $500 million at risk, respectively.

Today, European markets are trading steadily in negative territory, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Banks index down about 2.8%. The pan-European Stoxx 600 was 1.7% lower at 9:30 a.m. in London (4:30 a.m. ET), with all major indices and sectors in negative territory. The U.K.’s FTSE was down 1.6%, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.9%, while Germany’s DAX and Italy’s FTSE MIB both dropped over 2%.

The Greek stock market is also experiencing heavy losses for the fifth consecutive day, falling well below the critical 2,000-point mark. Specifically, the General Index declined 2.43% to 1,964.84 points, its lowest level since August 1 (1,960.06 points). The banking index is down nearly 5%, pressured by the fragile state of U.S. regional banks.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin, once considered a hedge against market turmoil—sometimes called “digital gold”—continued its decline on Friday morning in London, falling to $106,200. It was only on October 6 that the leading cryptocurrency had hit its all-time high of $126,251.

Gold Remains Dominant

On the other hand, gold, which does not yield interest and typically benefits from a low-rate environment, has risen over 65% since the beginning of the year.

Silver fell 0.7% to $53.86 per ounce but remained on track for weekly gains. Earlier, it reached a record high of $54.35, following gold’s rise.

Other precious metals moved lower today: Platinum fell 0.7% to $1,701, while palladium dropped 0.4% to $1,607.93—both, however, are still on track for weekly gains.