Silver rate today traded lower on Wednesday, December 31, the last session of 2025, however, the white metal remained firmly on track to deliver its best year ever, soaring almost 160%, as 2025 drew to a close.
Silver on MCX opened 6% lower at ₹2,35,952’kg.
Precious metals have witnessed sharp whipsaw moves this month, with prices scaling successive record highs before surrendering part of those gains as investors locked in profits following a blistering rally.
Meanwhile, globally, Silver slipped 1.6% to $75.09 an ounce, pulling back from record levels touched earlier in the week. Silver surged to an all-time high of $83.62 per ounce on Monday, December 29, highlighting the heightened volatility that has dominated trading in recent sessions.
Other precious metals also came under pressure on Wednesday. Spot gold was down 0.3% at $4,334.20 per ounce as of 0032 GMT, after touching a record high of $4,549.71 per ounce on Friday. Platinum prices dropped sharply, with spot platinum falling 3.4% to $2,123.55 per ounce, after hitting an all-time high of $2,478.50 per ounce on Monday. Despite the pullback, platinum remained on course for its best year ever, with gains of 135% so far this year.
Palladium also retreated, slipping 1.6% to $1,584.67 per ounce. Even so, the metal was set to close the year up 74%, marking its best annual performance in nearly 15 years.
Record rally still intact despite short-term pullback
Despite the latest decline, silver’s longer-term performance remains exceptional. The metal has surged 157% year-to-date, far outperforming gold and positioning itself for the strongest annual gain ever recorded. The rally has been underpinned by a combination of factors, including interest rate cuts and expectations of further easing by the US Federal Reserve, ongoing geopolitical tensions, robust buying by central banks, and rising inflows into exchange-traded funds.
Support for precious metals this year has also come from shifting monetary policy expectations. Minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s December meeting showed policymakers agreed to cut interest rates only after a deeply nuanced debate over risks to the US economy. While the easing move helped propel metals to record highs, the recent pullback suggests investors are becoming more cautious as the year ends, choosing to book profits after an extraordinary run.
Earlier this year, the London silver market experienced a full-blown squeeze as ETF inflows and exports to India sharply reduced inventories that were already at critically low levels. This tightening of available supply has added another layer of support to silver prices.
It reinforces the view that the rally has been backed by physical constraints rather than speculative excess alone.
According to Motilal Oswal Financial Services, the silver rally has been anchored in fundamentals. The brokerage said the surge reflects genuine scarcity in the physical market. “The silver price rally is rooted in real metal scarcity and is not just speculative,” it noted, pointing to sustained industrial and investment demand as key drivers.
While, investors have view the metal as a strategic hedge amid macroeconomic uncertainty, the rising use of silver in electronics, renewable energy and other technology-driven applications has increased the demand for the white metal more than the supply.
China export curbs add to supply concerns
Fresh supply-side concerns have also emerged from China. The world’s second-largest producer of silver is set to impose export restrictions from January 1 through a state licensing mechanism. Although China ranks among the top three global silver producers—largely as a by-product of industrial metals—it is also the world’s largest consumer, meaning even modest export curbs could tighten global availability.
The development drew attention over the weekend after Elon Musk weighed in on the growing investor focus on precious metals. Responding to a post on Chinese export restrictions, Musk said on X: “This is not good. Silver is needed in many industrial processes.”
From an investment standpoint, Motilal Oswal said it continues to favour a buy-on-dips strategy with staggered investments. While its initial target of $75 on COMEX has already been met, the brokerage reiterated its next upside target of $77 on COMEX, which translates to around ₹2,46,000 in the domestic market. Any further revision to this outlook, it added, would depend on how supply dynamics, inventory trends and policy developments unfold in the coming months.
