New York, Feb 25, 2026, 17:25 EST — After-hours.
Silver prices rose on Wednesday but pared a stronger run, with spot silver (XAG/USD) bid at $89.09 an ounce, up 2.38% on the day after trading as high as $91.42, Kitco data showed. (Kitco)
The shift matters now because silver has become a quick stress test for two themes pulling in opposite directions: inflation fears and growth worries. Both feed straight into the dollar and interest-rate pricing, and the metal tends to react before the dust settles elsewhere.
Silver also sits in two camps at once. It is a hedge when investors get nervous, and an industrial input when factories keep humming, so it can swing hard as money flips between “risk-off” and “risk-on.”
Earlier in the U.S. session, spot silver was up 3.9% at $90.73, a three-week high, alongside gains in other precious metals. A White House official said the United States began collecting a temporary 10% global import tariff on Tuesday and the administration was trying to lift it to 15%. “There’s an inflationary impact from tariffs and high oil prices,” Bart Melek, global head of commodity strategy at TD Securities, said, pointing to investor hedging in bullion. (Reuters)
A separate note from JPMorgan on Wednesday raised its long-term gold forecast to $4,500 an ounce and kept its year-end 2026 view at $6,300, citing sustained central-bank and investor demand. Bank of America said it was concerned silver could pull back further in the near term, even as it still saw room for the metal to climb back above $100 this year; spot silver was around $90.70 and down from a $121.64 record touched in late January, the note said. (Reuters)
Tuesday’s tape showed how quickly that pullback can appear. Spot silver slipped 1.2% to $87.21 as profit-taking and a firmer dollar weighed on precious metals, and Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals, said a push to fresh highs would likely require “a fresh geopolitical catalyst.” (Reuters)
Markets are heading into a potential catalyst in Geneva. U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are slated to meet an Iranian delegation led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi on Thursday for a third round of talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme, Reuters reported. Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said he saw a “good outlook” for the meeting as both sides pursue a deal under rising regional tension. (Reuters)
Rates sit in the background either way. Higher yields can sap demand for metals that do not pay interest, while a softer dollar tends to make dollar-priced bullion cheaper for buyers using other currencies.
Silver’s smaller market adds its own bite. Positioning can build quickly when momentum turns, and it can unwind just as fast when the headline flow changes.
Still, safe-haven trades can reverse without warning. Any sign that tariff threats ease or that talks with Iran lower the perceived risk of conflict could drain the bid in precious metals and leave silver exposed to another sharp downdraft.
The next calendar marker for traders is U.S. producer prices: the Labor Department is scheduled to release the producer price index for January at 8:30 a.m. ET on Feb. 27. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
