New Delhi / London | December 24, 2025 — Silver is ending 2025 with a surge that’s forcing even long-time gold bulls to take notice. The metal pushed to fresh all-time highs on Wednesday as investors piled into precious metals amid expectations of lower U.S. interest rates in 2026 and heightened geopolitical uncertainty.
In global markets, spot silver rose to a new peak near $72.70 per ounce before easing slightly, still up on the day. Gold also broke new ground above $4,500 per ounce, underlining the breadth of the rush into hard assets. [1]
In India, the rally has been even more dramatic in rupee terms. MCX silver hit a record ₹2,23,359 per kilogram on December 24 before pulling back modestly, while gold futures opened higher at ₹1,38,247 per 10 grams, reflecting the same global cocktail of rate-cut expectations and safe-haven buying. [2]
Silver price today: what’s happening in global markets
Silver’s move on December 24 wasn’t a gentle grind higher—it was another sharp leg in a year that has already rewritten the playbook for precious metals.
According to Reuters, spot silver traded around $72.27 per ounce after touching a record $72.70, while gold set new highs above $4,500. Analysts cited safe-haven demand and the market’s view that U.S. rates could fall further next year as key drivers—an environment that tends to benefit non-yielding assets like precious metals. [3]
One reason the move looks outsized: thin year-end liquidity. With fewer participants active into the Christmas week, price swings can be exaggerated—up or down—especially in metals markets. Reuters noted that this “thin year-end liquidity” has amplified recent moves even as the broader themes appear durable. [4]
MCX silver hits ₹2.23 lakh/kg: India feels the heat of the rally
While the global silver price is quoted in dollars per ounce, India’s headline numbers are coming from the futures market and local pricing dynamics—where the rally has reached levels that would have sounded implausible a year ago.
The Economic Times reported that on December 24, MCX silver surged to ₹2,23,359/kg (before slipping slightly), as investors responded to the same macro triggers—expectations of U.S. rate cuts, geopolitical risks, and strong safe-haven demand. [5]
This is not just a trader’s story. High prices filter quickly into:
- Jewellery and silverware costs
- Industrial procurement, especially for electronics and solar supply chains
- Retail investment demand, including bars, coins, and ETFs/sovereign-linked products where available
And in India, where gold has traditionally dominated mindshare, silver’s sudden prominence is reshaping the conversation.
The big picture: silver’s “25-year surge” and why 2025 became a breakout year
The current frenzy is easier to understand when you zoom out.
A widely shared long-term snapshot shows how dramatically silver has re-rated for Indian investors since 2000. Business Today reported that the metal has climbed from roughly ₹7,900 per kg in 2000 to about ₹2.16 lakh per kg in 2025—a rise of over 2,600%. Put another way: ₹1,000 invested in silver in 2000 would be worth about ₹26,455 today (assuming continuous exposure over the period). [6]
That long arc matters because it challenges an old perception: that silver is “just” a cyclical industrial metal. Instead, 2025 is strengthening the case that silver can behave like a hybrid asset—part precious metal, part industrial input—capable of both hedging uncertainty and riding technology demand.
Why silver is rallying: Fed rate cuts, geopolitics, and a supply deficit narrative
Silver’s record run is being powered by a rare alignment of forces that reinforce each other:
1) The interest-rate backdrop is turning supportive
Markets are increasingly positioning for lower U.S. interest rates in 2026, which can pressure bond yields and the dollar—conditions that often lift precious metals. Reuters said traders are pricing in multiple cuts next year, helping keep the metals complex bid. [7]
2) Investors are buying “neutral” assets in a tense world
Reuters framed the rally partly as a response to de-globalization dynamics and the search for assets that can act as a “neutral go-between” without sovereign risk. [8]
3) Supply tightness is back at the center of the story
A market update carried by Investing.com (Kedia Advisory) said silver is being supported by a structurally tight supply environment, strong industrial consumption, and investment demand. It pointed to forecasts of a fifth consecutive annual market shortfall of around 125 million ounces in 2025, taking cumulative deficits since 2021 close to 800 million ounces. [9]
Kedia also highlighted signs of physical tightness in London—including rising lease rates and borrowing costs—suggesting real stress in the availability of deliverable metal. [10]
Note: The same update referenced potential future changes to China’s export posture on silver. That claim has been widely discussed in markets commentary, but details vary across sources; investors typically look for confirmation from official channels and major wire services before treating such shifts as settled policy. [11]
“Silver is now the third most valuable asset”: the $4 trillion milestone
Adding to the day’s headlines, Business Today reported that silver’s total market value has ballooned so much that it briefly became the world’s third-most valuable asset, behind only gold and Nvidia—overtaking Apple by market capitalization.
The report pegged silver’s market cap at around $4.04 trillion, versus Apple at roughly $4.02 trillion as of Tuesday’s Wall Street close. [12]
This framing is eye-catching—and it captures the mood shift. Silver is no longer a “small sibling” to gold in the public imagination; it’s now being discussed in the same breath as the world’s largest assets.
Vedanta’s Anil Agarwal: “Silver’s extraordinary shine is here to stay”
The silver rally isn’t just changing investor portfolios—it’s reshaping corporate earnings stories for producers with meaningful exposure.
Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal said silver has entered a structural upcycle driven by technology-led demand and has “emerged from the shadow of gold.” He noted silver’s 125% year-to-date appreciation in dollar terms, outperforming gold, and argued the trend has deeper roots than a short-term spike. [13]
Why this matters: the Economic Times reported that silver is now a major profit driver for Vedanta’s mining arm Hindustan Zinc, contributing nearly 40% of overall profits in the quarter ended September 2025—about ₹1,060 crore out of consolidated profit after tax of ₹2,649 crore. Silver revenue was reported at ₹1,706 crore, benefiting from stronger prices and steady operations. [14]
In other words, silver’s breakout is not only a market story—it’s directly influencing margins, diversification, and earnings stability for companies positioned on the supply side.
A policy tailwind: silver joins the U.S. critical minerals list
One of the more underappreciated forces behind silver’s narrative shift in 2025 is policy signaling—especially around supply-chain security.
The U.S. Department of the Interior said the final 2025 List of Critical Minerals added 10 new minerals, including silver, reflecting concerns about supply chain vulnerability and the metal’s strategic importance for energy, defense, and technology supply chains. [15]
Reuters explicitly pointed to silver’s inclusion on the U.S. critical minerals list as one factor supporting the metal’s momentum this year, alongside investment demand. [16]
This doesn’t automatically change near-term physical supply. But it can influence:
- how governments and industries plan procurement,
- how investors interpret long-term demand certainty,
- and how capital flows into mining/refining capacity.
What happens next: upside targets, but volatility risk remains
After a move of this magnitude, the two questions dominating market chatter are straightforward: How far can silver go—and how violently can it swing?
Reuters cited expectations that gold could target $5,000 over the next six to twelve months, with silver potentially pushing toward $80—though it also warned that thin liquidity can magnify volatility and that price action may remain choppy. [17]
For readers tracking silver price action into 2026, the key swing factors are likely to be:
- Fed guidance and U.S. data (inflation, jobs, growth) that shape rate expectations
- The U.S. dollar and real yields
- ETF and retail flows (which can accelerate momentum in both directions)
- Industrial demand signals from solar, electronics, EVs, and data centers
- Physical market indicators such as inventories, lease rates, and delivery premia
Bottom line: silver’s 2025 run is rewriting the narrative
On December 24, 2025, silver didn’t just make a new high—it cemented a year-long transformation in how markets view the metal.
The rally is being driven by a powerful mix of rate-cut expectations, geopolitical risk, and a persistent belief that silver is entering a more structural, technology-linked demand era—a view echoed by industry leaders and reinforced by policy signals like the U.S. critical minerals list. [18]
Whether the next phase is a continued melt-up or a volatile consolidation, silver has already achieved something rare: it has moved from “alternative precious metal” to a front-page macro asset—globally, and in India’s fast-moving commodities market.
References
1. www.reuters.com, 2. m.economictimes.com, 3. www.reuters.com, 4. www.reuters.com, 5. m.economictimes.com, 6. www.businesstoday.in, 7. www.reuters.com, 8. www.reuters.com, 9. in.investing.com, 10. in.investing.com, 11. in.investing.com, 12. www.businesstoday.in, 13. m.economictimes.com, 14. m.economictimes.com, 15. www.doi.gov, 16. www.reuters.com, 17. www.reuters.com, 18. m.economictimes.com
