Overview
- Silver traded less than $1 below its $59.33 per ounce record on Monday after an early Asian dip, with swaps pricing a near‑certain quarter‑point Fed cut this week.
- Silver‑backed funds saw their strongest weekly inflows since July at roughly 590 tons, including nearly $1 billion into the iShares Silver Trust.
- One‑month lease rates held near 6%, signaling persistent borrowing stress in London even as more metal moved into vaults, and Shanghai inventories sit near decade lows.
- Retail and options activity intensified, with implied volatility in the iShares Silver Trust at the highest since early 2021 and large February $80/$85 call spread blocks trading on Comex.
- Investors have shifted focus from gold toward silver and copper, with silver more than doubling this year and copper up nearly 9% since gold’s Oct. 20 record, as analysts warn of frothy positioning.