New York, February 12, 2026, 12:06 EST — Regular session
- Silver snapped back sharply after a brief rally on Wednesday, tumbling from just under $85 to dip beneath $75.
- Silver-linked ETFs and miners slumped in U.S. trading, with equity investors feeling the drop even more acutely.
- Friday’s U.S. inflation numbers are now the next trigger for Fed policy, with markets watching closely.
Spot silver slid 9.4% to $76.37 a troy ounce as of 12:01 p.m. EST, according to market data, swinging between a session low of $74.97 and a peak at $84.98. 1
U.S.-listed silver names took a hit. Shares of iShares Silver Trust dropped 9.8%. Sprott Physical Silver Trust shed 11.1%. Hecla Mining slipped 8.8%, First Majestic Silver lost 7.5%, and Pan American Silver finished down 6.4%.
The metal’s been on a wild ride over the past 48 hours. Spot silver jumped 4.6% Wednesday to $84.39, rebounding after profit-takers stepped in the previous session, with traders shrugging off a robust U.S. jobs report to zero in on Friday’s consumer price index. “One strong jobs report won’t dent the mentality behind gold buying,” said Tai Wong, an independent metals trader, highlighting the longer-term demand drivers. 2
Traders hit the sell button on Thursday, shifting their outlook on how long U.S. rates could remain elevated. Fresh government numbers showed nonfarm payrolls added 130,000 jobs in January and the unemployment rate dipped to 4.3%, while weekly jobless claims slid to 227,000. “It dims the likelihood of Fed rate cuts in the first half of this year,” said Peter Grant, vice president and senior metals strategist at Zaner Metals. He pointed to U.S.-Iran tensions as “a bit of a tailwind” for safe-haven demand, even with prices giving up ground. 3
Silver futures recently quoted at $77.01 an ounce, sliding from the previous close of $83.92. Contracts traded between about $74.91 and $84.83 for the day. 4
This pullback comes on top of a market that’s already been stretched by this year’s rally. The Silver Institute this week projected that global silver demand should hold steady in 2026, with firmer retail investment making up for softer industrial, jewellery and silverware appetite. The market, according to the group, is heading for its sixth consecutive “structural deficit,” pegged at roughly 67 million ounces. Silver reached an all-time high of $121.60 on Jan. 29, following a 147% jump in 2025. 5
Silver acts as a hybrid—some days it’s a haven, other times an industrial play. That dual nature can leave it swinging harder than gold when rates, stocks, and growth outlooks all move in one session.
The inflation reading now takes center stage. If CPI lands soft, rate-cut wagers may resurface fast, luring buyers back. But a firmer number could flip the script, with real yields climbing and leveraged trades once more on the firing line.
The next major test for traders: January’s U.S. Consumer Price Index, set for release Friday, Feb. 13, at 8:30 a.m. ET, per the Labor Department’s schedule. 6
