New York, Jan 7, 2026, 13:51 EST — Regular session
- iShares Silver Trust (SLV) fell about 4% in afternoon trade, tracking a pullback in silver.
- Spot silver slipped about 5% earlier as investors took profits and the dollar stayed firm.
- Traders are watching Friday’s U.S. jobs report and next week’s CPI for the next push in rates and metals.
Shares of iShares Silver Trust (SLV) fell about 4% on Wednesday, giving back part of this week’s surge in the silver price. The silver-backed trust was down 4.1% at $70.72 in early afternoon trade, after ranging from $69.26 to $72.20.
Spot silver, the cash price for immediate delivery, was down 5% at $77.26 an ounce by late morning New York time as investors locked in gains and the U.S. dollar held firm; gold, platinum and palladium also fell. “We’re viewing today’s pullback as general profit taking after that recent surge,” David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures, said. HSBC raised its 2026 average silver price forecast to $68.25 an ounce, and markets were pricing about 61 basis points (0.61 percentage points) of Federal Reserve rate cuts this year, LSEG data showed. Reuters
Why now: traders are trying to figure out whether the U.S. economy is cooling enough to pull rates lower without reigniting inflation. Job openings fell 303,000 to 7.146 million in November in the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), and hiring dropped, a report on Wednesday showed. Marc Giannoni, chief economist at Barclays, called the decline in openings “notable.” Reuters
The dollar has been choppy, and that matters for metals priced in U.S. currency. The dollar index was up 0.04% and traders were waiting for Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report, with positioning still “more tactical than anything else,” according to Olivier Bellemare, a vice president at Monex Canada. Reuters
SLV seeks to reflect the day-to-day moves in silver bullion and is backed by physical metal held in trust; iShares put its net asset value at $71.14 on Tuesday, up $3.09, or 4.53%, on the day. The trust’s sponsor fee is 0.50% and its NAV total return was up 9.0% year-to-date as of Jan. 6, the issuer’s data show.
The trade is simple and messy at the same time: SLV doesn’t have earnings or guidance, so it tends to move with rates, the dollar and risk appetite — and it can swing hard.
But the setup cuts both ways. A stronger payrolls print could lift Treasury yields and the dollar, trim rate-cut bets, and pressure silver and the fund.
Next up is Friday’s Employment Situation report for December, due at 8:30 a.m. ET, followed by the U.S. consumer price index on Jan. 13, also at 8:30 a.m. ET; the Labor Department’s calendar warns some release dates could shift because of the lapse in government services.
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