New York, Jan 20, 2026, 06:22 EST — Premarket
- Spot silver (XAG/USD) held near $95/oz in early New York hours, close to fresh highs
- A new burst of tariff rhetoric around Greenland has pushed traders into traditional havens
- The next test is Wednesday’s U.S. Supreme Court hearing tied to the Fed, plus the Feb. 1 tariff start date
Spot silver rose 1.05% to $95.36 an ounce by 06:22 a.m. EST, after trading as high as $95.51 and as low as $92.60 earlier in the session. 1
The bounce came with a familiar soundtrack: a risk-off lurch across markets after President Donald Trump renewed tariff threats linked to Greenland, pulling money out of stocks and into havens. “Investors will be hoping for some sort of de-escalation deal on Greenland,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell. 2
In Europe, shares fell and the dollar extended losses as investors weighed the hit to growth from a fresh trade fight. The dollar index was down 0.6% at 98.485, while U.S. Treasury yields hit a four-month high in moves that landed all at once after U.S. markets were shut on Monday for a public holiday, the report noted. 3
Gold has been doing the heavy lifting. It pushed past $4,700 an ounce and hit a record $4,731.34, while silver rose 0.7% to $95.34 after touching a record high of $95.488 earlier, Reuters data showed. “Growth concerns driven by threats of additional tariffs … are the drivers,” said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo. 4
The risk mood has leaked into hedging markets, too. Euro two-week implied options volatility — a gauge taken from option prices of how much traders expect the currency to swing — jumped to almost 6%, while sterling’s implied volatility rose to a two-month high of 6.464%, Reuters reported. 5
Silver can trade like a safe-haven metal when fear takes over, but it also has an industrial side. That mix can make it jumpy when headline risk spikes and liquidity thins before U.S. cash markets open.
But it can turn quickly. If tariff talk cools or the dollar catches a bid, the metal can slip back as fast money takes profit, especially with bond yields moving higher and raising the “carry” gap versus bullion, which pays no interest.
Traders are also looking past the tariff noise to a legal fight that could rattle rate expectations. Columbia Law School professor Kathryn Judge said the Fed-related fight “will be key in determining the scope of the president’s authority to unilaterally determine economic policy,” a point that has turned into a live market variable. 6
For now, the silver market is trading the same question as everything else: does this stay a headline shock, or does it harden into policy?
The next hard timestamp is Wednesday, Jan. 21, when the U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Trump v. Cook — a case markets see as a stress test for perceived Federal Reserve independence. 7
