US Borrowing Costs Reach Near-Record Highs as Gold and Silver Prices Plummet

Gold and silver prices plummeted in Asian trade Monday, down 2.5% and 4.2% respectively in Shanghai.

The losses extended to London, where bullion reached an eight-week low as China's stock market slumped by 2.2%, a 13-month low for the CSI300 share index.

Meanwhile, US borrowing costs surged, with 10-year Treasury bond yields hitting a near-record high of 5.26% per annum, just three basis points shy of the June 2007 peak.

Real yields on inflation-protected TIPS rose to 2.87%, adding 25 basis points since the Federal Reserve's interest rate hike in September and the highest level outside of the 2008 Lehman Brothers crisis.