Silver prices in the spot market hit an all-time high of $60.05 per ounce on Tuesday, supported by a deepening market deficit and steadily rising demand for the white metal.
Silver continues to rank among the world’s best-performing assets in 2025. Its price has nearly doubled since the start of the year, with some datasets showing gains between 100% and 102%, far outpacing gold’s roughly 60% advance.
What is driving silver prices today?
1. Fed rate-cut expectations dominate the landscape
The Federal Reserve begins its final policy meeting of 2025 today (December 9), with the rate decision due tomorrow. Futures markets continue to point strongly toward another 25-basis-point cut — the third this year.
Tools such as CME FedWatch show probabilities between 85% and 90% for a quarter-point cut, according to multiple market reports and analyses today.
Signs of a cooling US labor market and softer core PCE inflation have strengthened expectations for a clearer Fed easing cycle.
Lower interest rates and declining real yields reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets like gold and silver.
Analysts warn that a strongly dovish message could trigger further upside breakouts, while a hawkish surprise could send silver sharply lower into the mid-$50 range.
2. Softer dollar and persistent economic uncertainty
Silver’s rally is also supported by renewed weakness in the US dollar and persistent geopolitical uncertainty:
The US dollar index is declining again, helping lift both gold and silver in European and US trading.
Geopolitical tensions — particularly in Eastern Europe — and concerns over US foreign-policy direction have boosted demand for safe-haven assets, with silver benefiting from its dual role as both an investment and industrial metal.
3. Structural supply deficit and booming industrial demand
Beyond short-term Fed dynamics, silver’s surge is underpinned by powerful fundamental drivers:
The market is facing its fifth consecutive annual supply deficit, with industrial demand outstripping mine production.
Global exchange inventories remain tight, with emergency flows into the London market earlier this autumn offering only temporary relief.
Shanghai Futures Exchange inventories have dropped to their lowest silver stockpile in a decade, highlighting the fragility of available supply.
Industrial demand is experiencing a broad-based boom across clean-energy and high-tech sectors:
Silver is essential for solar panels, electric-vehicle electronics, 5G networks, data centers, and advanced semiconductors.
Analysts note that expected long-term growth in the solar-power sector alone could drive structural increases in silver demand throughout the next decade.
Recent coverage shows the metal has doubled from its start-of-year levels, breaking historic resistance zones between $50 and $55, hitting new highs above $59, and even touching intraday peaks above $61 per ounce.
