Silver crosses $80 per ounce to hit record high

Silver prices surged past the $80-per-ounce mark to hit a record high, continuing a sharp rally toward the end of the year driven by heavy speculative buying and ongoing supply constraints.

The metal saw wild price swings on Monday. It climbed by as much as six percent, briefly touching $84 an ounce in early trading, before retreating below its previous closing level. Prices later recovered part of the losses as trading continued.

A softer US dollar and growing geopolitical uncertainty have boosted demand for precious metals, a trend that has already pushed gold and platinum to historic highs during the current bull run.

Early gains on Monday followed renewed attention from investors after comments by Elon Musk over the weekend. Responding on X to a post about Chinese export controls, Musk wrote: “This is not good. Silver is needed in many industrial processes.”

China’s export measures, announced by its Ministry of Commerce on October 30, largely extend earlier policies. While China is among the world’s top silver producers, it also consumes the most silver globally, limiting its role as an exporter.