NEW YORK, December 29, 2025, 10:29 ET — Regular session
- SLV fell about 8% in morning trade as silver pulled back sharply from a fresh record above $80 an ounce.
- Investors took profits and safe-haven demand eased after U.S. President Donald Trump pointed to progress in Ukraine talks; Fed minutes are due Tuesday.
- CME raised initial margin on COMEX silver futures to $25,000 from $22,000, a clearing notice showed.
Shares of the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) slid 8.2% to $65.26 in early New York trading on Monday, mirroring a sharp drop in silver after a blowout rally to record highs.
The reversal matters because silver’s late-year surge has turned volatile, and traders are testing how much of the run-up was driven by momentum and crowded positioning ahead of year-end.
Markets also have fresh macro and geopolitical catalysts on deck, with Federal Reserve minutes due Tuesday and headlines around Ukraine talks feeding moves in so-called safe havens — assets bought for perceived protection in periods of uncertainty.
Spot silver was down 5.1% at $75.15 an ounce earlier on Monday after touching a record $83.62, Reuters reported.
COMEX silver futures were down about 7% at roughly $71.76 per ounce, according to Investing.com data.
The pullback spilled across precious metals. Spot gold fell 1.7% to $4,455.35 an ounce, while platinum and palladium posted steeper declines after hitting records, Reuters said.
“Near-term, the risk is technical and positioning-led,” said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo. Reuters
Traders are watching Tuesday’s Fed minutes for clues on the path of U.S. rates, after the central bank cut its benchmark rate to 3.5%-3.75% this month and markets priced two further quarter-point cuts by September, Reuters reported. Lower rates tend to support “non-yielding” metals because bullion pays no interest. Reuters+1
SLV is one of the main U.S.-listed vehicles investors use to track silver prices. Exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, trade like stocks but hold assets on investors’ behalf; in silver ETFs, shares are backed by metal stored in vaults.
The iShares Silver Trust, run by BlackRock, is the largest silver ETF and holds about 529 million ounces of silver worth roughly $39 billion at current prices, Reuters reported.
Leverage is also in focus. CME raised the initial margin — the cash collateral traders must post to hold a futures position — for COMEX 5,000-ounce silver futures to $25,000 from $22,000 for non-HRP positions, a Dec. 26 clearing notice showed.
Some strategists have also flagged mechanical year-end flows as a swing factor, including commodity index rebalancing that can force passive funds to sell outsized winners, Barron’s reported.
Silver-linked equities moved with the metal. Shares of several U.S.-listed silver miners fell in early trade, with Coeur Mining, Hecla Mining, First Majestic Silver and Pan American Silver all lower, according to a GuruFocus report.
Traders next will be watching the Fed minutes on Tuesday, any shift in Ukraine-related headlines, and whether silver holds above the mid-$70s level after failing to sustain the break above $80. Silver is still up about 181% in 2025, Reuters reported, leaving markets braced for more two-way swings as liquidity thins into the year-end.
