London, March 12, 2026, 17:31 GMT
Spot silver climbed 0.6% to $86.27 an ounce by 1408 GMT on Thursday, rebounding after dropping 3.5% the day before. Conflict-driven buying lent support, helping the market recover from Wednesday’s sharp fall.
Silver’s in a tricky spot, straddling safe-haven status and heavy industrial use. Investors turn to it for shelter when volatility spikes, yet it’s also a key material for jewellery, electronics, EVs, and solar panels. That dual role tends to send silver swinging more wildly than gold whenever nerves, inflation, or growth fears hit.
This week, the divide has only grown starker. The dollar’s up over 1.5% versus a basket of major currencies. Swaps traders have now shifted bets on the Fed’s first rate cut to September, moving out from July. Yet, economists in a Reuters poll keep pointing to June as the more probable kickoff.
Phillip Streible, chief market strategist at Blue Line Futures, pointed out that precious metals are contending with a “higher dollar index, rising treasury yields and lack of interest-rate cuts”—factors that persist, despite the Middle East conflict fueling some haven demand. Reuters
Oil prices climbed as Iran’s new supreme leader pledged to shut the Strait of Hormuz, putting the commodity in the spotlight. Crude moved up, and with U.S. consumer prices logging a 0.3% gain in February—matching expectations—the outlook for interest rates remains murky.
Peter Grant, the senior metals strategist over at Zaner Metals, described the market as caught in “push-and-pull”—tugged by war-fueled demand, while also weighing the possibility that interest rates could remain elevated for longer. Reuters
Elsewhere among precious metals, gold eased 0.3% to $5,159.04 an ounce. Platinum dropped 0.4% to $2,159.50, while palladium edged 0.3% higher to $1,642.44. Silver, by comparison, was holding up a bit better than both gold and platinum, but only marginally.
The broader setup remains tilted in silver’s favor. BMI is forecasting an average price of $93 per ounce for 2026, and last month the Silver Institute pointed to a sixth consecutive year of structural deficit—demand outpacing supply again. Physical investment looks set to bounce back, even as industrial and jewelry demand shows signs of cooling.
Silver hasn’t managed to climb back to that $89.39 mark from Tuesday. Back then, Bart Melek, who heads up commodity strategy at TD Securities, pointed to softer oil prices as a reason for subsiding inflation jitters—and potential fresh interest in precious metals. That was before crude reversed course and rallied again on Thursday.
Silver punished anyone getting too comfortable. The metal took the sharpest fall among the big precious names on Wednesday. That wild ride in January? Still fresh: prices blasted to a record $121.60 on Jan. 29, only to tumble by more than 25% within 24 hours. Thin market, wild swings—unlike gold, silver doesn’t offer much of a safety net.
Eyes are turning to next week’s Fed meeting, with any uptick in Middle East energy risk also on the radar for direction. Silver, for its part, sits stuck—haven buying props it up, but the dollar’s strength keeps a lid on gains.
