New York, January 22, 2026, 06:12 EST — Premarket
- Spot silver climbed 0.5% to $93.71 an ounce in early trading, yet remained under Tuesday’s record peak
- The dollar held steady once fears sparked by Greenland-related tariff threats subsided, as attention returned to interest rates
- Thursday’s U.S. jobless claims and PCE inflation figures are the next key catalysts
Spot silver climbed 0.5% to $93.71 an ounce by 5:17 a.m. EST on Thursday, staying just under Tuesday’s record peak of $95.87. “The return of risk appetite is weighing on demand for the safe-haven metal,” noted Ricardo Evangelista, an analyst at ActivTrades. Reuters
The reason this is crucial now: silver is moving like a headline-driven market, swinging sharply with changes in risk appetite and interest-rate forecasts. Traders are eyeing a packed U.S. data lineup Thursday — GDP, weekly jobless claims, and the personal consumption expenditures price index — to gauge how tight policy might remain this year.
The dollar gained ground against the euro and Swiss franc late Wednesday, following President Donald Trump’s announcement of a framework for a future Greenland deal with NATO and his retreat from threatened tariffs. “We’re seeing a bit of a relief rally in markets,” said Matt Weller, global head of market research at StoneX. Reuters
The broader market has settled, at least temporarily. Global stocks nudged up and Wall Street’s VIX fear index dropped, while U.S. Treasuries found support after a selloff pushed 10-year yields to their highest since August. Michael Metcalfe of State Street noted that investors have learned to “look through” volatility sparked by geopolitics, refocusing on rates and fundamentals. Reuters
Silver offers no yield, which often weighs on it when bond yields climb and the dollar gains strength, pushing up costs for buyers using other currencies. Traders keep an eye on “real yields” — bond yields minus inflation — as a gauge of the opportunity cost of holding silver.
The metal often mirrors gold during flight-to-safety moves, yet its industrial uses add a twist. Price swings tend to be more volatile as traders switch between “growth” and “risk-off” mindsets.
In India’s physical market, silver premiums soared as traders braced for potential policy moves. Dealers pushed premiums to $8 an ounce — hitting a record high — amid bets the government could hike import duties to limit inflows and bolster the rupee before the Feb. 1 budget, industry insiders and traders said.
The rally this week comes after sharp gains earlier. Silver surged past $95 on Tuesday, propelled by rising geopolitical tensions and tariff concerns that boosted its safe-haven appeal. A weaker dollar also supported precious metals, according to City Index and FOREX.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada.
The risk remains what it always is with silver: gains can vanish fast. Should inflation data surprise on the upside, pushing traders to scale back rate cut expectations, the dollar might strengthen again, pulling silver down. Still, a fresh political headline could easily reverse that move.
