New York, February 21, 2026, 12:10 EST — The market has shut for the day.
Silver finished Friday at $82.92 an ounce, climbing 5.8% as investors reacted to soft U.S. growth figures and fresh tariff news, which sent funds back toward precious metals.
This shift is notable, with silver behaving once more as a straightforward macro trade. It’s jumping quickly on changes in U.S. rate outlook and policy risk—at times, outpacing gold’s reaction.
Silver’s industrial angle tends to ratchet up the volatility. Swings get sharper as investors toggle between “slowdown” and “sticky inflation” themes, or when the dollar and bond yields jerk around.
President Donald Trump, speaking Saturday, announced a bump in temporary tariffs on nearly all U.S. imports, moving from 10% up to 15%. That’s the ceiling set by Section 122, a different law, which also mandates lawmakers sign off if the tariffs last past 150 days.
U.S. Treasury yields edged up Friday following the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling on tariffs. The 10-year yield landed at 4.083%, while the two-year was at 3.48%. As for the dollar index, it dipped 0.14% to 97.75, though it was still on track for its strongest week since October.
Core PCE inflation, excluding food and energy, edged up 0.4% in December—bumping the annual core rate to 3.0%, Reuters reported. With the January PCE data set for release March 13, economists are saying that December’s firmer print may delay the next Fed rate cut until after June.
Friday brought another data point on growth. S&P Global’s flash U.S. Composite PMI, which tracks business activity, slipped to 52.3 for February—down from January’s 53.0. Chris Williamson at S&P Global called the latest reading in line with roughly 1.5% GDP growth for the start of the year.
Governor Christopher Waller is up first among Fed speakers next week, set to discuss the economic outlook Monday, February 23 at 8:30 a.m. in Washington. Traders will be tuned in for any signs officials are shifting their focus—are they flagging growth risks, or sticking to their inflation fight?
Markets get their read on U.S. consumer confidence this Tuesday, February 24, with numbers out at 10 a.m. ET. Investors watch the release closely as a gauge for household demand; any deviation from forecasts tends to hit yields and the dollar fast, and silver prices often react in turn.
There’s a catch to the rally: too-high prices threaten demand. After silver’s jump this past year, solar manufacturers are working harder to swap it out for copper. The photovoltaic industry takes up roughly 17% of silver demand, according to Reuters. “Silver is the greatest contributor to the increased cost of manufacturing solar panels,” said Derek Schnee, senior commercial solar consultant at JK Renewables. Reuters
Traders are looking to the U.S. Producer Price Index for January, out Friday, February 27 at 8:30 a.m. ET, as the next key inflation gauge. The PPI tracks changes in prices at the producer level; a strong print has a history of sparking worries about higher rates, often knocking silver lower right out of the gate.
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