London, Feb 6, 2026, 11:03 GMT — Regular session
- Spot silver climbed about 5% on the day after trading near $64 earlier.
- CME lifted margin requirements again for COMEX silver futures, raising the cost of holding leveraged positions.
- Traders are watching next week’s delayed U.S. payrolls report and fresh signals on liquidity stress.
Spot silver (XAG/USD) was up 4.9% at $74.32 an ounce by 1103 GMT. It has swung between $63.98 and $75.44 so far on Friday.
The bounce has not settled the market. Silver has become a stress test for leverage and liquidity, with sharp moves forcing fast position cuts and feeding volatility elsewhere.
The U.S. dollar held near two-week highs on Friday as investors unwound riskier positions after a deep rout across stocks, crypto and precious metals. Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo, called it a “silver-driven liquidity/margin flush” as crowded exposures were de-risked across assets. Reuters
CME Group said it would raise initial and maintenance margins for COMEX 5000 Silver futures to 18% from 15%, effective after Friday’s close. Margins are the deposits futures traders post to cover potential losses; exchanges often lift them when price swings increase, squeezing leverage at the worst moment.
Thursday’s drop showed how quickly the trade can turn. Spot silver was down 12.1% at $77.36 after falling as low as $72.21, with investors liquidating metal holdings amid a stronger dollar and a broad market rout; “Some people are facing margin issues,” said Bob Haberkorn, senior market strategist at RJO Futures. JPMorgan warned that relatively rich silver valuations can leave the metal vulnerable to outsized corrections in risk-off sessions, and jeweller Pandora has said it is shifting to platinum-plated products to cut exposure to silver’s swings. Reuters
Commodities sold off on Thursday as earlier geopolitical risk premiums eased, with silver tumbling as much as 15% alongside declines in oil after the U.S. and Iran agreed to hold talks and after a positive call between the U.S. and China leaders. “We saw extreme volatility in precious metals and other commodities this week, and what we are witnessing today are some aftershocks,” said IG analyst Tony Sycamore. Reuters
In China, the UBS SDIC Silver Futures fund — the country’s only exchange-listed pure-silver product — fell by its 10% daily limit again after a one-hour trading halt, leaving it down more than 40% from its Jan. 26 peak. The fund still traded at a 29% premium to its net asset value (NAV), the value of the underlying holdings; “A perfect storm involving product design, investor behaviour and trading mechanics led to the crash in the silver fund,” said Duan Shihua, head of Shanghai Changer Investment Management Consulting. Reuters
Analysts are still trying to map a floor. A Reuters poll published this week showed forecasters lifting their 2026 silver average estimate to $79.50 an ounce, while flagging volatility risks and sharper pullbacks as demand cools; Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke pointed to signs of softer industrial demand as solar module makers shift away for cost reasons and jewellery demand weakens.
For traders, the plumbing matters as much as the story. Futures markets set the marginal price and are where leverage sits, so margin hikes can change positioning quickly and make intraday moves look exaggerated.
But the rebound could prove fragile if the dollar firms again or if equity losses deepen and force another round of liquidation. A sharper-than-expected slowdown in industrial demand would make it harder for silver to hold gains once the squeeze fades.
Next up is whether volatility cools after CME’s margin changes take effect after Friday’s close, and whether new contracts pull more activity into the futures complex. CME has also flagged Feb. 9 for the planned debut of 100-ounce silver futures, pending regulatory review, while markets look to next week’s delayed U.S. payrolls report for the next jolt to rates and the dollar.
