Gold’s shine spills over to silver as prices surge to never-before-seen levels

Silver bullion, bars weighing five kilograms each, are displayed in the trading room of the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Michael Probst, FILE

While gold has received much of the credit in helping drive the TSX to new heights over the past year, another metal appears to be shining just as bright for investors.

Silver prices recently breached the US$100 per ounce threshold for the first time as investor and industrial demand for the metal surges.

“Since April of last year, the big move has been driven by strong retail demand or participation, and that’s both in physical and ETF demand. I would say that’s been the biggest driver,” said Dennis da Silva, senior portfolio manager at Middlefield.

There is a “constant push and pull between industrial use and safe haven characteristics for silver,” da Silva said, compared with gold which is “pretty much non-consumable.”

He said around 55 per cent of silver demand comes from industrial uses, including for solar panels and electric vehicles.

Precious metals prices fell on Friday after U.S. President Trump announced Kevin Warsh as his choice to replace Jerome Powell as U.S. Federal Reserve chair, but the price increases seen in the metals market overall have still been remarkable.

Gold prices have risen 77 per cent over the past year and nearly 150 per cent over the past two years, to trade around the US$5,000 an ounce level. Silver prices have spiked roughly 200 per cent over the past year.

“I think on the gold side, the case for central bank demand and just general geopolitical risk, it is still the No. 1 safe haven choice. Silver kind of gets carried along; it is not the first choice,” da Silva said.

Bipan Rai, head of ETF and alternatives strategy at BMO Global Asset Management, said tight supply for the two metals is also helping push prices higher.

“We are in a situation now where in terms of global supply, we are in a deep deficit, not just for gold, but also for silver as well,” Rai said.

“And in fact with demand continuing to outstrip whatever supply can be provided by mining activity, that’s something that’s obviously going to be reflected in the price.”

He added that structural changes in the global economy amid upheaval in international trade and geopolitics have led to a softening U.S. dollar, which is having knock-on effects in the metals market.

The U.S. dollar, widely regarded as the world’s reserve currency, has been generally weakening since President Donald Trump entered the White House last year.

The U.S. dollar’s fall accelerated after Trump threatened tariffs earlier this month against several European countries that he said opposed his taking control of Greenland.

“For us, precious metals continue to be the release valve in that sort of environment,” Rai said.

Rai said he is optimistic about the outlook for precious metals into the middle part of the year. He said silver prices may benefit from industrial demand in the AI sector, where the metal is used in cooling systems.

Outside of continued industrial demand though, da Silva said investor enthusiasm for silver is less likely to last.

“There’s just this surge in retail demand, which we know is not something that’s sustainable. When that dissipates or returns back to normal levels, you’re left with, ‘What’s the industrial demand like?’” he said.

Over the next year or two, da Silva said he thinks silver prices will fall back down to the US$75-US$80 an ounce level.

— With files from The Associated Press.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 30, 2026.

Daniel Johnson, The Canadian Press