Banks and traders are expanding their precious metals desks and logistics capabilities as they race to capitalise on gold’s historic rally this year — which has suddenly made the sleepy world of bullion trading and vaulting one of the most profitable areas in finance. 

Amid a blistering rally for gold and silver, revenues from leading banks’ precious metals trading desks soared 50 per cent during the first nine months of this year compared with the same period of 2024, according to data analytics company Crisil Coalition Greenwich. 

“There is a big pot to be made this year, and everyone is being quite aggressive on it,” said Callum Minns, research manager at Crisil. Precious metals are becoming “a bigger proportion of the overall markets business” for top banks, he added.