Silver and Platinum Prices Experience Sharp Fluctuations

Prices of precious metals such as silver and platinum have recently experienced significant volatility. At the end of 2025, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group successively raised margin requirements for precious metal futures trading, temporarily curbing speculative buying. However, against the backdrop of geopolitical risks and tight supply and demand in the spot market, precious metal prices have rebounded and are expected to remain resilient in the medium to long term.

As one of the international benchmarks, the New York futures market (the most active contract) saw platinum prices rise as much as 6.7% from the previous weekend during Asian trading hours on January 5th, reaching $2279.8 per ounce. Silver prices also rose 7%, climbing to $76.05 per ounce.

The US military attack on Venezuela on January 3rd triggered a surge of safe-haven funds into gold, considered a safe-haven asset. Koichiro Kamei, representative of the Japan Market Strategy Research Institute, analyzed: “Against the backdrop of escalating global uncertainty, silver and platinum, both physical assets like gold, have also been affected by buying pressure.

After the end of 2025, the volatility of precious metal prices intensified further. This was triggered by adjustments to the trading system by the CME Group. On December 26, the exchange announced an increase in trading margins for precious metal futures, including gold, silver, and platinum.

The increased margins led to a decrease in the capital efficiency of futures trading. Market analyst Itsuo Toyoshima pointed out: “This strongly curbed the accelerated speculative behavior in the precious metals market.”

Even so, the momentum of speculative funds did not weaken, and platinum and silver prices both hit record highs on December 29. Given the persistently high market activity, the CME announced a second margin increase on December 30.

Frequent margin increases exceeded market expectations. Investors began taking profits or closing positions, causing a sharp price drop on the 31st. Platinum prices fell as much as 14.5% from the previous trading day, reaching $1927.4 per ounce. Silver prices also fell 11.1%, touching $69.255 per ounce.

Dragged down by the plunge in silver and platinum, gold prices also declined. New York gold futures (the most active contract) fell 2.3% on the 31st compared to the previous trading day, falling below the $4300 per ounce mark again for the first time in two weeks.

Such a concentrated series of margin increases by the CME is rare. Although silver and platinum prices are correlated with gold prices, which are also precious metals, their smaller market size means that even small inflows and outflows are enough to trigger significant price fluctuations.

Tsutomu Kosugane, representative of MarketEdge Japan, believes: “In the short term, if precious metal prices surge again, the CME may raise margin requirements again, potentially curbing a sharp rise like that in December.”

However, the spot supply and demand for silver and platinum remains tight. Yuichi Ikemizu, representative director of the Japan Precious Metals Market Association, said, “From a long-term perspective, the upward trend in precious metal prices is unlikely to change.”