Silver saw ups and downs in 2023, but as the year draws to a close the metal’s price isn’t far from where it started. Find out what trends have moved the market over the last 12 months.
Silver saw a record deficit in 2022, and coming into 2023 some experts had high expectations for the metal. With strong demand and reduced supply expected to continue, there were calls for silver to outperform gold. But as the fight against inflation continued, the white metal was influenced more by economic and geopolitical factors. Expected to react.
Increased volatility from global events impacted the silver price throughout 2023, with factors such as US banking sector instability, actions from the US Federal Reserve and instability in the Middle East all playing a role. The precious metal also reacted to swings in the US dollar, often trading inversely to the currency. The metal now looks set to end the year at the same place it began, posting a slight year-to-date gain of 0.33 percent as of December 19. Read on to learn more about what trends impacted the silver sector in 2023.
Silver price in Q4 trends said that, the price of silver slipped to US$20.93 on October 4 on the back of instability in the Chinese real estate market. This volatility contributed to a broader rout of the commodities markets, with the S&P GSCI losing 6.3 percent between September 27 and October 4.
On October 7, coordinated deadly attacks by Hamas on Israeli targets and civilians marked a sudden escalation in the long conflict between the two entities. The violence and continued conflict sent investors fleeing for the safety of precious metals once again, driving the price of silver back up to US$23.35 by October 19. Silver held steady through to the middle of November before spiking once again following remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell — some believed his comments indicated that rate cuts could be on the horizon. The metal ultimately reached US$25.48 on November 30, short of its year-to-date high set in Q2.