Silver price soars above $36, its highest in 13 years

Silver prices soared to their highest in more than 13 years on Thursday following a technical breakout, as investors look to broaden their exposure to safe-haven assets beyond gold.

Spot silver touched $36.07 an ounce in the early morning trading, the highest since February 2012, before pulling back to about $35.90 for a 2.6% daily gain.

Meanwhile, the most actively traded silver contracts saw a larger jump at 4%, trading just above the $36-per-ounce level.

The rally, according to analysts, was likely driven by a combination of technical momentum, improving fundamentals and broader investor interest.

“After lagging behind gold for several weeks, silver is now catching up,” Alexander Zumpfe, a senior trader at German gold refiner Heraeus Group, told Bloomberg on Thursday.

That suggests “renewed interest from momentum-driven investors who are rotating into silver,” he added.

Silver-backed exchange-traded funds have seen significant inflows recently, with holdings up by 2.2 million oz. on Wednesday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Lagging gold

Despite being one of the top-performing assets in 2025, silver still trails its sister metal gold in terms year-to-date gains, at 25% versus 30%.

The two precious metals often move in tandem when geopolitical uncertainty rises, as investors seek more holdings in safe-haven assets.

Silver also benefits from industrial demand for applications such as solar panels. A recent survey from the Silver Institute estimated the metal’s supply was 15% below demand in 2024 and is projected to see another deficit in 2025.

Meanwhile, gold prices were relatively subdued on Thursday, up about 0.1% to $3,381.25 an ounce.

Gold/silver ratio

Thursday’s movements took the gold/silver price ratio down to almost 94 — the lowest since April 2, when US President Donald Trump unleashed market chaos with his “Liberation Day” tariffs.

Bullion market specialist Rhona O’Connell at brokerage StoneX said there is “no specific reason” for the spike in silver relative to gold.

“But given its recent underperformance against gold (because of economic concerns…) it looks to me that there could be some ratio trading going on now that it’s dipped below the 100 level,” O’Connell wrote in a note Thursday.

For the last 12 months, gold has risen by 44% as an expanding US-led tariff war bolstered its appeal and central banks maintained elevated levels of buying. During that time, silver gained only half of that percentage point.

(With files from Bloomberg)