Global silver markets witnessed an abrupt change in tone after prices retreated sharply from record intraday levels, snapping what could have been a seventh straight session of gains. According to a CNBC-TV18 report, the metal fell as much as 8 percent from its peak after an aggressive early-session rally, marking one of the sharpest intraday reversals seen this year.

Silver has been among the strongest-performing global assets in 2025, driven by a powerful mix of speculative flows, tightening physical supply, and sustained industrial demand. Over the past several weeks, momentum accelerated sharply, culminating in an explosive rally late last week and into the start of the new week.

March silver futures surged to an intraday high of $82.67 per ounce in early trade, extending a dramatic upswing that has few modern parallels. The move followed an 11 percent single-day jump on Friday, the strongest daily gain since 2008, and came on top of an additional 7 percent rise early in the session. At those levels, silver’s advance had surpassed even the scale of the widely discussed short squeeze episode seen in October.

The narrative shifted quickly as prices failed to hold elevated levels. From the intraday peak, silver slipped as much as 8 percent, erasing a significant portion of the day’s gains. CNBC-TV18 noted that the magnitude of the move was exacerbated by thin trading volumes, a common feature during the year-end holiday period.

With fewer participants active in the market, even modest order flows are having an outsized impact on prices. This has resulted in sharp swings in both directions, increasing short-term volatility despite the underlying bullish trend remaining intact.

Despite the pullback, silver remains up approximately 180 percent so far in 2025, with three trading sessions still left in the year. If current levels broadly hold, the metal is on track for its best annual performance since 1979, when prices rose more than 200 percent. This places the current rally in a rare historical context and explains why price action is drawing heightened attention from both investors and policymakers.

Analysts cited by CNBC-TV18 point to a structural shift underpinning the rally. Unlike previous speculative spikes driven largely by paper trading, a growing share of futures and derivative positions is now being backed by physical demand. Available supply, however, has struggled to keep pace, creating a persistent imbalance that continues to support prices.

Tight supply conditions are not limited to silver. Platinum markets are also seeing significant stress. According to CNBC-TV18, platinum prices have risen more than 40 percent in December alone, with January futures crossing the $2,500-per-ounce mark in early trade. This represents the highest level since records began in 1987, highlighting the severity of current supply constraints.

Gold, by contrast, has remained relatively subdued. While prices were largely unchanged on the day, the yellow metal continues to trade above $4,550 per ounce. The divergence suggests that industrial demand dynamics and supply tightness are playing a larger role in silver and platinum than traditional safe-haven flows, which tend to dominate gold pricing.