New York, Feb 10, 2026, 10:08 EST — Regular session
- Spot silver slipped roughly 1.5%, trading close to $82 an ounce, while SLV shed around 2.3%.
- Traders are eyeing Wednesday’s payrolls and Friday’s CPI as they weigh U.S. rate prospects.
- Volatility hasn’t let up since that whipsaw in late January, with higher futures margins still in play.
Silver slipped on Tuesday, trimming some of the ground it regained during Monday’s rally as the U.S. dollar firmed up and investors dipped back into risk assets. Spot silver hovered near $82.03 an ounce, off roughly 1.5%. The iShares Silver Trust ETF dropped about 2.3% in early New York action. 1
Timing’s key here. Silver’s been anything but dull lately, with moves that look more like a rates play than a traditional safe asset. Now, two U.S. datasets will set the tone: January nonfarm payrolls hit on Wednesday, then consumer inflation numbers drop Friday. 2
So traders are back to square one—tracking jobs data and inflation numbers for any signal on the Fed’s next move. Silver doesn’t offer any yield, making it less attractive as rate forecasts climb, particularly if the dollar stays strong.
Silver surged more than 5% Monday, according to FXStreet data, a rally that left the metal’s market start to the week on the stretched side. 3
Tuesday saw a change in mood: stocks stayed firm, while the dollar edged up, making dollar-denominated metals less attractive abroad. “The start of the week has been marked by a resurgence in risk appetite across financial markets,” noted ActivTrades analyst Ricardo Evangelista. 4
Later on, some of the pressure let up—recently softer U.S. data has reinforced the sense that growth is tapering off, which tends to drag down yields and lend a hand to precious metals. Silver, though, continued to feel the fallout of last month’s liquidation, according to Trading Economics. 5
Silver stocks split direction. First Majestic Silver edged up, and Pan American Silver slipped just a bit—both names coming off a rollercoaster stretch these last two weeks.
Investors are still reeling from the late January whiplash—silver surged to an all-time high, then tumbled hard after CME Group hiked margin requirements on precious metals futures, which analysts blamed for triggering more forced selling. SP Angel’s John Meyer described the experience as “a rollercoaster ride.” 6
Still, the downside’s hard to ignore. If payrolls come in strong or inflation runs hotter, Treasury yields and the dollar could jump—silver tends to tumble fast when leveraged bets unwind and liquidity dries up.
Markets now turn to Wednesday’s U.S. payrolls data, then Friday’s CPI numbers — these two reports are set to have the biggest impact on rate expectations and could chart silver’s next direction. 7
