NEW YORK, December 29, 2025, 17:03 ET — After-hours
Shares of iShares Silver Trust (SLV), a widely used proxy for silver prices, fell 7.1% to $66.01 in after-hours trading on Monday. The abrdn Physical Silver Shares ETF (SIVR) was down 7.2% at $69.33.
The late-day slide matters because it lands after a blistering year-end surge that pulled more speculative money into silver and the “silver stocks” tied to it. Sharp reversals this close to year-end can spill quickly into mining shares and risk appetite when traders are forced to cut exposure.
Silver can move like a safe-haven hedge and like an industrial commodity, depending on the day. That mix leaves it prone to bigger swings when positioning unwinds, especially after a fast run-up. 1
Spot silver was last at about $72.11 an ounce, down roughly 9% from its prior close, after trading as high as about $83.99 earlier in the day, according to Investing.com data. 2
“All the metals moved up to recent and all-time highs. We are seeing profit-taking pullbacks off of those spectacularly high levels,” David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures, said. 3
CME Group said higher performance-bond requirements — the margin traders must post up front to hold futures contracts — would take effect after the close of business on Monday. Higher margins raise the cash needed to keep leveraged bets on, which can trigger position cuts when prices swing. 4
With U.S. markets heading into a holiday-thinned stretch, liquidity has been patchy across metals and related equities. That can amplify intraday moves when sell orders stack up.
Silver-linked miners also fell. The Global X Silver Miners ETF (SIL) was down 5.3% at $85.25, while Pan American Silver dropped 5.7% to $52.24, First Majestic Silver slid 4.1% to $16.70 and Hecla Mining fell 4.9% to $19.20.
The selling pressure spread across precious metals proxies. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) was down 4.4% at $398.60 in after-hours trading.
Macro markets offered a mixed backdrop on Monday, with Treasury yields easing as investors recalibrated expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts in the year ahead. A softer rate outlook can support non-yielding metals over time, but margin-driven selling can overwhelm that in the short run. 5
Traders now have a near-term macro catalyst on the calendar: the Federal Reserve’s minutes from its December 9–10 meeting are scheduled for release at 2:00 p.m. ET on Dec. 30, according to the central bank’s calendar. 6
For silver, the next test is whether prices can stabilize around the $70 level after the failed push above $80, or whether the tighter margin regime sparks another round of forced liquidation into the final sessions of 2025.
