Silver plunged more than 35% on Friday to around $74, marking its largest intraday decline ever recorded, before rebounding to roughly $82 at press time. Gold fell more than 12% to near $4,700 after touching record highs above $5,500 earlier in the week.
The selloff followed a historic rally that saw silver surge past $120 and gold climb to unprecedented levels, driven by inflation hedging, dollar weakness, and speculative momentum. Friday’s sharp reversal reflected a sudden shift in sentiment as traders moved to lock in profits amid rising macro uncertainty.
Volatility in metals coincided with a broader risk-off move after President Donald Trump named Kevin Warsh as his pick to lead the Federal Reserve. Warsh is widely viewed as more hawkish, easing investor concerns about central bank independence and signaling a less accommodative path for interest rates.
Bond markets reflected that repricing, with the 10-year Treasury yield climbing to around 4.25%. The US dollar index, which had touched a four-year low earlier in the week, rose about 0.7% as rate expectations firmed.
Silver’s collapse erased more than $1.8 trillion in market capitalization as prices fell from near $110 to the mid-$70s. Even after the rebound, silver’s market value stands near $4.2 trillion.
The drop allowed NVIDIA to overtake silver, becoming the world’s second-largest asset by market capitalization at roughly $4.6 trillion, according to Companies by Market Cap data.