• Silver crashes over 4% intraday, breaching the $84 per ounce threshold.
  • Risk-off sentiment, dollar strength, and growth fears drive the selloff.
  • Industrial demand signals and upcoming Fed policy decisions add to uncertainty.

Silver Suffers Brutal Selloff

Spot silver tumbled more than 4% in a sudden selloff on Thursday, sinking below $84 per ounce for the first time in over two weeks. The sharp decline comes as investors flee precious metals amid a strengthening dollar and rising anxiety over global economic growth. By midday, silver was trading at $83.75, down 4.2% from the previous close, according to people familiar with the matter.

What's Driving the Drop?

The rout mirrors pressure across the broader commodities complex. “Silver is getting hit from both sides: it's an industrial metal, so it's vulnerable to growth fears, and it's also a monetary metal, so it wanes when the dollar rallies,” a metals trader said in a note. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.6%, approaching its highest level in months, while U.S. bond yields climbed on expectations that the Federal Reserve may keep rates higher for longer.

“The macro picture has shifted risk-off in the last 48 hours,” a London-based precious metals analyst said, adding that “silver is the most leveraged metal to any change in sentiment, which is why you see moves like this.”

Industrial Outlook Adds Pressure

Beyond macro headwinds, silver’s dual role as an industrial component is weighing on prices. Recent purchasing manager surveys from the euro area and China have pointed to contracting factory activity, raising concerns about near-term demand from key sectors like solar panel manufacturing, electronics, and electric vehicles. “Industrial buyers are pulling back, waiting for prices to find a floor before restocking,” a senior trader at a major bullion bank said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

What’s Next for Silver?

Traders are now eyeing the $82 level as the next key support. If the dollar continues to strengthen and rate-cut expectations fade further, silver could test that threshold in the coming days, analysts said. However, some long-term investors see the selloff as a buying opportunity: “Silver’s structural demand story—from energy transition to defense spending—remains intact. These pullbacks get bought,” a portfolio manager at a large asset manager said.

All eyes are on next week’s Federal Reserve meeting, where any signal of a pivot to looser policy could reignite silver’s rally. Until then, volatility is likely to persist, market participants said.

This article has been updated to reflect intraday pricing as of 2:15 p.m. New York time.