New York, March 18, 2026, 14:28 EDT.
Silver slid roughly 3% on Wednesday, trading near $76.85 an ounce in New York and slipping to its lowest in about a month. A stronger dollar and persistent U.S. inflation pressured the precious metal; prices dropped as low as $75.53 intraday before being quoted at $76.85 bid at 2:03 p.m. New York.
This shift landed as the Federal Reserve left rates steady at 3.50%-3.75% and stuck to just a single quarter-point cut penciled in for 2026. That’s a headache for silver, which doesn’t generate yield and now looks set to contend with elevated borrowing costs for longer.
Markets were already feeling the squeeze. U.S. producer prices pushed up 0.7% in February, showing a 3.4% gain year-over-year. The dollar index advanced to 99.83. Brent crude surged near $108.56 amid Iranian threats targeting regional energy sites. All of this piled onto concerns that inflation may remain stubborn, likely keeping the Fed in a wary stance.
JPMorgan economist Abiel Reinhart sees stubborn core inflation bolstering the Fed’s view that rates need to “remain on hold for some time.” Kitco Metals’ Jim Wyckoff, meanwhile, figures the precious-metals bulls have “run out of gas.” Reuters
Pain hit silver miners fast. Pan American Silver dropped roughly 6% during U.S. afternoon hours. First Majestic Silver slipped about 5%, while shares in Wheaton Precious Metals shed close to 4.5%.
Selling pressure hit more than just U.S.-listed shares. In Toronto, a 4.5% drop in the materials index followed a slide of over 3% in gold and silver prices, dragging Canada’s top equity gauge lower.
That’s a sharp reversal from early 2026, when a retail-driven frenzy sent silver surging to an all-time high of $121.60 on Jan. 29. The metal—essential in electronics, EVs, solar panels, and a popular investment bet—is still on track for a sixth consecutive year of structural deficit in 2026, with demand outstripping supply, according to the Silver Institute’s February report.
The direction from here isn’t clear-cut. Oil sticking at these levels and the Fed holding rates up — or any shift among officials toward that single rate hike projection for next year — could drag silver down again. Let the oil shock subside and jobs cool, though, and silver might find its footing before year-end.
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