NEW YORK, Feb 17, 2026, 16:01 EST — Trading after the bell
Silver futures slid close to 6% on Tuesday, landing at $73.31 an ounce. That move drags prices further from the 52-week high near $121.79.
Spot silver dropped 4.1% to $73.47 an ounce by 1:30 p.m. ET, after briefly touching $71.92. A thaw in U.S.-Iran relations took the edge off demand for metals considered safe havens. The U.S. dollar index ticked up 0.3%. Spot gold shed 2.2% to $4,884.46, while platinum slipped 1.3% and palladium retreated by 3.1%. “Bull markets need to be fed fresh fundamental fodder often,” said Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst at Kitco Metals. He added: “If the U.S. can avoid attacking Iran, market anxiety would ease.” Reuters
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran and Washington had agreed on key “guiding principles” during indirect nuclear negotiations in Geneva, but stressed that a final agreement remained out of reach. The news has implications for silver, a market that’s been moving on headlines since its sharp rally in January. Reuters
The iShares Silver Trust ETF (SLV) slid 4.68% to close at $66.46 in U.S. equity trading, scraping a session low of $65.26.
Silver tends to follow gold when investors look for a safe spot. But it’s got another side: industrial demand. Electronics, solar panels, that sort of thing. So when the dollar firms up and money gets tighter, silver can take a double hit.
The dollar’s strength tends to push up the price of metals for anyone paying in another currency. Higher yields also bite, since silver doesn’t pay any return.
Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s Jan. 27-28 policy meeting will be released Wednesday, Feb. 18. Traders are combing through the details, searching for clues on how officials debated inflation and when rate cuts might be on the table.
The U.S. personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index for December lands Friday, per the Bureau of Economic Analysis. It’s set for Feb. 20. PCE is the inflation metric the Fed watches closest, and an unexpected reading tends to hit yields, the dollar, and metals almost instantly.
Some Asian markets taking a break for Lunar New Year has left liquidity patchy—so what might be standard selling pressure quickly snowballs into a steeper drop.
But here’s the risk: Should talks break down, or if inflation numbers surprise to the downside, safe-haven flows could snap back fast. A relentless dollar and trimmed positions might keep silver languishing near its latest lows.
The gold-to-silver ratio climbed to 65.82 on Tuesday, up from 65.20 the previous day, FXStreet data showed. That uptick points to silver trailing gold.
Wednesday brings the Fed minutes, then Friday it’s the PCE inflation data. Traders keep an eye on Geneva headlines for any shift in tone.
