New York, Feb 16, 2026, 16:02 EST — Market closed.
- Spot silver slid 2% to $75.83 an ounce in thin trade, with U.S. markets shut for Presidents Day.
- A firmer dollar kept pressure on metals as traders weighed the path for Fed rate cuts.
- Investors now look to the Fed’s Feb. 18 minutes and a run of U.S. data for the next cue.
Spot silver, the benchmark cash price for immediate delivery, was down 2% at $75.83 per ounce on Monday, after briefly falling about 3% earlier in the session. “As a more cyclically sensitive metal, any sign of a strong economy reduces (silver’s) safe-haven appeal relative to gold,” said Zain Vawda, an analyst at MarketPulse by OANDA. Markets in the United States were closed for Presidents Day, while several Asian markets were shut for the Lunar New Year, leaving liquidity patchy. Source: Reuters
That matters this week because the next full U.S. session lands on Tuesday, when cash markets reopen and investors get a cleaner read on positioning in precious metals. Holiday trade can exaggerate moves, especially in silver, which tends to swing harder than gold when volumes thin out. Source: Apnews
The dollar’s direction remains the near-term gatekeeper. The dollar index was marginally higher at 97.06, Reuters reported, while money markets priced about 62 basis points of easing over the rest of 2026 — roughly two quarter-point cuts (a quarter-point is 25 basis points) and about a 50% chance of a third, with June seen as the most likely first cut. Source: Reuters
Silver carries a split personality: it is both a precious metal that can benefit from risk hedging, and an industrial input that can track growth expectations. That tug-of-war has been running through prices as traders toggle between rate-cut bets and the macro data.
In U.S.-listed products, the iShares Silver Trust ETF (SLV), which is backed by physical silver, last closed on Friday at $70.04, up 0.46%, ahead of Tuesday’s reopen. Source: Yahoo
On the fund side, SLV’s net asset value was $70.08 as of Feb. 13, according to iShares. Source: Ishares
A risk for silver bulls is that the dollar firms further once U.S. trading normalizes, or that the next round of U.S. numbers pushes yields higher, lifting the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding metals. The upside case is the opposite: softer yields and a weaker dollar can put a floor under prices quickly, especially if volatility drags momentum traders back in.
The next scheduled catalyst is the Federal Reserve’s minutes from its Jan. 27–28 meeting, due on Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 2:00 p.m. ET. Source: Federalreserve
After that, traders will be parsing a stack of U.S. releases later in the week, including industrial production and leading indicators on Feb. 18, and trade balance and the Philadelphia Fed index on Feb. 19, for what they imply about growth and the timing of rate cuts. Source: Scotiabank
