Looking to the Futures
Silver's year
Precious metals shined all of 2025, and among them, Silver was the brightest. March Silver Futures (SIH26) settled higher Tuesday to $77.919 per troy ounce. Silver pointed lower in overnight trading, reversing the gains from Tuesday. Silver last traded for $71.57 and was down 8.2% from prior settlement. (as of 09:00 a.m. ET).
According to the Wall Street Journal and FactSet, the front-month silver contract (SIF26) achieved the largest daily percentage gain since 2009. Year-to-date, Silver Futures have surged by 139%. Silver futures commenced the year at $29.31 and reached an intra-day high of $82.67 on Monday before pulling back and settling at 70.46 down 8.73% from the prior day's settlement.
As the clock approaches midnight, China is poised to implement export restrictions and tighten controls on silver. The implications of this policy on the global supply chain are being closely monitored, as China is both a net importer and a leading refiner of silver. Elon Musk responded to a post on X social media requesting government licenses for companies to export silver, stating, "This is not goof. Silver is needed in many industrial processes."
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has announced that the new export restrictions will take effect on January 1, 2026, and while require government-issued licenses for firms to export silver internationally. Silver is a crucial component in the production of solar panels, electric vehicles, electronics, and industrial components. The heightened demand for silver and other precious metals has been driven by the expansion of artificial intelligence data centers and electric vehicle manufacturing. Traders will carefully assess the impact of restrictions on the global supply chain as the new year commences.
Technicals
Silver has experienced significant fluctuations this week, characterized by reduced liquidity due to the holiday season, geopolitical uncertainties, profit realization, and repositioning. From last Friday, silver has exhibited a volatile pattern, with fluctuations ranging from a 6.98% increase to an 8.72% decline, followed by a 10.58% rise. This month alone, silver futures have surged by over 21%, although the year is concluding with an active trading environment. Since December 26th, volatility has increased from 44% to a peak of 83%, subsequently retracing to 66%. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) has crossed below the 70 overbought indicator at 60.03, The 9-day simple moving average (SMA) and 21-day exponential moving average (EMA) both hold strong uptrends above the 50-day SMA.
The Hightower report: Daily Technical Summary presents a bullish short-term indicator, with the close surpassing the 9-day SMA. The subsequent downside target for silver, as identified by Hightower, is 67.924. Resistance levels include approximately 79.967 and 82.713, while the initial support area is currently at 72.573, with further support at 67.924.
9-Day SMA 71.299
21-Day EMA 66.368
50-Day SMA 56.608
14-Day RSI 60.3807
Implied Volatility .6501
Contract Specifications
Economic Calendar
Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET
Oil Inventories 10:30 AM ET
Natural Gas inventories 12:00 PM ET
New Products
New futures products are available to trade with a futures-approved account on all thinkorswim platforms:
- Ripple (/XRP)
- Micro Ripple (/MXP)
- Micro Corn (/MZC)
- Micro Wheat (/MZW)
- Micro Soybean (/MZS)
- Micro Soybean Oil Futures (/MZL)
- Micro Soybean Meal Futures (/MZM)
- 1 OZ Gold (/1OZ)
- Solana (/SOL)
- Micro Solana (/MSL)
Visit the Schwab.com Futures Markets page to explore the wide variety of futures contracts available for trading through Charles Schwab Futures and Forex LLC.