New York, March 9, 2026, 13:19 (EDT)
Silver prices fell on Monday as a firmer dollar and rising U.S. rate expectations outweighed defensive buying tied to the widening Middle East war. Spot silver was down 0.3% at $84.06 an ounce by 11:10 a.m. ET; gold fell 1.7%, while platinum rose 0.6% and palladium added 1.4%. “Inflation worries and expectations of higher interest rates” were weighing on bullion, Kitco Metals analyst Jim Wyckoff said. 1
The move matters now because silver sits between two trades at once. It can draw crisis buying like gold, but it is also used in jewellery, electronics, electric vehicles and solar panels, and the Silver Institute said last month the market was heading for a sixth straight year in which demand exceeds supply. 2
That leaves the metal unusually exposed when investors fear an oil shock could lift prices and slow growth at the same time. Kitco’s New York spot page later showed silver at $84.56 after a swing between $79.54 and $85.20, while Reuters reported broader market concern over a stagflation setup — slower growth with higher inflation. 3
The dollar has become the immediate problem. Reuters reported traders were pricing about 35 basis points, or 0.35 percentage point, of Federal Reserve easing by year-end, down from more than 55 basis points in late February; “Ultimately the U.S. dollar always plays well as a safe haven in a world of chaos,” Monex USA’s Juan Perez said. Higher rates usually hurt silver and gold because bullion pays no interest. 4
Oil did the heavy lifting. Brent jumped 10.4% to $102.29 a barrel after earlier touching $119.50, the highest since 2022, as the war virtually shut the Strait of Hormuz, a route for roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas shipments. 5
The next read-through for silver comes from U.S. inflation data. The February Consumer Price Index, or CPI, is due on March 11, the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, or PCE — the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge — is due on March 13, and the Fed meets on March 17-18. 6
The market shakeout is wider than metals. Reuters said investors were unwinding some of 2026’s most popular trades as the dollar jumped and equities slid. ING’s Chris Turner said a “stagflationary shock” — slower growth and higher inflation together — “was not part of the plan.” 7
But the next turn could still go either way. RBC Capital Markets’ Helima Croft said there was “no clear definition of what winning looks like,” making it hard to judge whether the conflict will last weeks or months, while Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack said it was “too early to know” how the oil shock would feed through and that rates should stay on hold for “quite some time.” 8
