NEW YORK, December 28, 2025, 19:12 ET
- Silver rose to a record above $80 an ounce in an end-of-year rally, Bloomberg reported.
- Tesla CEO Elon Musk warned manufacturers could suffer from the surge in silver prices, the Guardian reported.
- Analysts have pointed to expected U.S. rate cuts in 2026 and looming China export restrictions from Jan. 1 as key drivers.
Silver rose to a record above $80 an ounce in an end-of-year rally, Bloomberg reported, extending a surge that is rippling through supply chains that depend on the metal.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk warned manufacturers could suffer from the spike. “This is not good. Silver is needed in many industrial processes,” Musk posted on X. The Guardian
The move matters now because silver is widely used in electrification, solar power panels, electric vehicles and data centers, industries where demand has been rising and inventories have been tightening, the Guardian reported.
Traders are also watching new restrictions on silver exports from China that begin on Jan. 1, while expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts in 2026 have boosted demand for metals investors use to protect purchasing power when prices rise, analysts cited by the Guardian said.
Silver has climbed sharply in December, the Guardian said. It hit $79 an ounce for the first time on Friday, up from $56 at the start of the month and $29 at the start of 2025.
Bloomberg said the metal rose for a sixth straight session and was up about a quarter over that stretch, the biggest six-day increase in records since 1950.
The rally has lifted other precious metals as well. Gold and platinum also hit record levels on Dec. 26, the Guardian reported.
Analysts have tied the surge to expectations of lower U.S. interest rates next year, which can support assets that do not pay interest, such as bullion, by reducing the return on cash and bonds. The Guardian said investors have also sought physical assets such as precious metals to guard against inflation and currency debasement.
Supply fears have added fuel to the move, the Guardian reported, citing the pending China export restrictions and growing concern over access to physical metal.
Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG, said a structural imbalance between supply and demand in silver has intensified the scramble for physical metal, the Guardian reported.
The Guardian said silver’s role as a store of value can also pull in investor demand alongside industrial buying.
Gold has risen by more than 70% this year to above $4,500 an ounce, up from $2,623 at the start of 2025, the Guardian reported.
Spot platinum rose 5.3% on Friday to $2,338.20 an ounce and has climbed about 170% this year, the Guardian said.
With China’s export rules set to tighten at the start of 2026 and investors focused on the Fed’s next steps, traders are watching whether the precious-metals rally holds into the new year.
