NEW YORK, December 31, 2025, 02:54 ET — Market closed.
- Spot silver fell 7.1% to $71.02/oz after hitting a record $83.62 earlier this week.
- iShares Silver Trust (SLV) was last up $2.99, or 4.5%, at $68.98 in late Tuesday trading.
- Traders are watching U.S. weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. ET and thin holiday liquidity into the New Year.
Spot silver slid 7.1% to $71.02 an ounce early Wednesday, extending a sharp retreat from Monday’s record $83.62.
The pullback matters now because silver’s outsized 2025 rally has pushed more trading into equity-style vehicles such as silver-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which trade like stocks. Those products reprice quickly when the metal swings.
It is also a year-end tape. Liquidity is thinner, and positioning tends to be crowded after big runs, making price moves look more dramatic than they would in a normal week.
The dollar was part of the pressure point. Reuters reported the U.S. dollar rose to a more than one-week high, weighing on dollar-priced metals.
“So first the dollar has risen slightly … and it’s the last day of the year so we see some profit-booking,” said Jigar Trivedi, senior research analyst at Reliance Securities. Reuters
In futures trading, the most-active silver contract was last down about 8.4% at $71.37 an ounce, CME quotes showed. Futures are standardized contracts that track the expected price for delivery at a later date.
Silver has been lurching in wide ranges all week. On Monday, it fell 9.5% to $71.66 after touching $83.62 earlier in the session as investors took profits, Reuters reported.
A separate jolt came from the mechanics of leveraged trading. CME raised margin requirements for precious metals earlier this week, media reported; margin is the cash deposit traders post to hold futures positions, and higher margins can force investors to cut exposure.
Even after the latest drop, silver is still up more than 140% in 2025, far outpacing gold, Reuters data showed. The run has been supported by supply constraints, low inventories and rising industrial and investment demand, with added attention after Washington designated silver as a critical mineral.
In U.S. equity markets, the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) was last up $2.99, or about 4.5%, at $68.98 in late Tuesday trade, while abrdn Physical Silver Shares ETF (SIVR) rose $3.08, or about 4.4%, to $72.40, market data showed. Reuters has previously reported SLV is the largest silver ETF and is run by BlackRock.
Silver miners also moved with the metal in the latest session, with First Majestic Silver up 1.4%, Hecla Mining up 1.5% and Pan American Silver up 0.8% in late trading, market data showed. Miners often show amplified moves because shifts in the silver price can change expected revenue faster than costs.
Looking into 2026, analysts have said precious metals may still find support if interest rates fall, which reduces the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets like gold and silver.
Before the next session, investors will parse weekly U.S. unemployment claims due at 8:30 a.m. ET, a release that can move Treasury yields and the dollar. The Labor Department’s schedule shows the report is published Wednesday because the usual Thursday release falls on a federal holiday.
U.S. bond markets are slated to close early at 2 p.m. ET on Wednesday, according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, while U.S. equity markets will be closed on Thursday for New Year’s Day, the NYSE holiday calendar shows.
For traders focused on charts, $70 an ounce is the first round-number level in play after the overnight slide, with $83.62 the obvious marker on the upside after this week’s record. The next major policy waypoint is the Federal Reserve’s Jan. 27-28 meeting, which will shape rate expectations that have been central to the metals trade.
