Silver Crashes 5% After Breaching $80 for First Time
Silver topped $81 in overnight trading before reversing sharply, falling to $75 as traders take profits on the metal's 166% year-to-date gain.
Silver finally broke $80. Then it broke down.
The metal topped $81 per ounce in overnight trading Monday—a level that seemed almost unimaginable at the start of 2025 when it traded near $20. Within hours, aggressive profit-taking sent prices tumbling more than 5% to around $75.
The reversal marks one of the sharpest single-day swings in silver's already volatile 2025 run.
The Numbers
Silver futures traded as high as $81.15 before buyers disappeared. By early afternoon in New York, prices had retreated to roughly $75.40, erasing much of last week's gains in a single session.
The move came on elevated volume. Traders who had ridden the rally from $72 earlier in the week rushed for exits when momentum stalled at the round-number milestone.
Gold also pulled back, though less dramatically. Spot gold fell 1.2% to around $4,475 after nearing its record high of $4,533 last week. The gold-silver ratio ticked higher to 59, reversing some of the compression that had signaled silver outperformance.
Why Silver Snapped Back
Three factors drove the reversal.
First, $80 was a psychological ceiling. Round numbers matter in commodities, and silver hadn't seen this level in its modern trading history. Many traders set profit targets there, and enough of them pulled the trigger to overwhelm remaining buyers.
Second, liquidity is thin. The final week of December sees reduced participation from institutional desks. That amplifies moves in both directions. Silver gapped higher over the Christmas holiday and gapped lower when the selling started.
Third, the dollar firmed. The DXY index rose 0.3% on Monday as Treasury yields climbed. Dollar strength makes commodities more expensive for foreign buyers, reducing demand at the margin.
2025 in Perspective
Even after Monday's drop, silver remains up roughly 166% year-to-date. The metal started 2025 near $20 per ounce. It ends the year near $75.
That makes 2025 silver's best year since 1979, when the Hunt brothers' attempted corner sent prices parabolic before they crashed. This rally has different drivers—industrial demand from solar panels and EVs, supply constraints from depleted inventories, and speculative flows from Chinese markets.
But the speed and magnitude are reminiscent of that era. In both cases, silver moved too far, too fast, and needed to reset.
What Traders Are Watching
Support sits around $72, the level silver broke out from earlier in the week. If that holds, the pullback is just a healthy consolidation in an ongoing bull market.
A break below $70 would raise questions about whether the rally has exhausted itself. That's roughly 7% below current prices and would bring silver back to levels seen in early December.
On the upside, $80 is now resistance. Reclaiming that level would suggest dip-buyers are willing to step in and momentum could resume.
Industrial Demand Still There
The fundamental case for silver hasn't changed. Solar panel manufacturers continue to consume significant quantities of the metal. EV battery production is ramping. These aren't speculative demand sources—they're structural.
The London Bullion Market Association reported that registered silver inventories sit at their lowest levels since 2016. Supply remains tight even as prices have tripled.
But tight supply and strong fundamentals don't prevent corrections. Silver is still a small, volatile market that trades on sentiment as much as supply and demand. Monday's price action proved that again.
The question now is whether the pullback attracts buyers or triggers more selling. With year-end book-closing in full swing, the answer may have to wait until 2026.