Silver rose 4.71% in a single session, reaching $52.01 per troy ounce. A day earlier, at Tuesday's close, the metal was worth $49.67. The data comes from FXStreet, with the price recorded at 12:31 Moscow time on November 4.
XAG/USD is the exchange pair where silver trades against the dollar. The price is traditionally quoted per troy ounce, which is about 31 grams.
This matters to traders for two reasons. The metal moves on news from the US. And prop firms' trading conditions for it vary more than for currencies.
What do the numbers show?
- $52.01 - price per ounce at 12:31 Moscow time on November 4
- $49.67 - Tuesday's close
- $1.67 - what an ounce yields when converted to grams
- 77.81 - the gold-to-silver ratio, versus 78.96 a day earlier
The gold-to-silver ratio shows how many ounces of silver one ounce of gold is worth. The indicator fell because silver rose faster than gold. Gold, meanwhile, holds above $4,000.
Why did the market turn?
The trigger was the outcome of the US midterm elections. The Democrats took both the House and the Senate. The market reads this setup as a freeze on decisions in Washington.
Then a chain reaction followed:
- Bond yields. US Treasuries fell after the votes were counted.
- The dollar. The currency weakened, and demand for safe-haven assets rose.
- Silver has no coupon. The metal has no coupon or dividend, so when yields fall, holding it becomes more attractive.
- Buyers outside the US. A weak dollar makes the metal cheaper for them.
- Industry. Part of the demand comes from electronics and solar panels.
What does this mean for a trader?
Over the longer term, the picture is different. Since the start of the year, silver is down 26.84%. Yesterday's surge recovers part of the decline; the market is not reaching new highs.
Key point: one strong session does not cancel out the metal's yearly loss.
What happens next?
Watch US data. On Wednesday, the ADP report on private-sector employment is released. The forecast is 69k new jobs for October versus 90k in September.
- Eurozone inflation for October already came in as forecast - 4% year on year
- Dates and forecasts for the remaining releases are in the economic calendar
- Conditions for metals are easy to compare via the challenge selector
Did you catch this silver candle?
A surge like this in metals plays out within a few hours. After that, everything comes down to the account rules. At prop firms, silver sometimes lands in the main instrument list, and sometimes in the section with reduced leverage and a widened spread. A daily loss limit gets blown by one sloppy entry on a five-percent move. The selector filters immediately show where XAG/USD trades on normal conditions and where it simply isn't in the terminal. A minute of checking saves you from a surprise on the next move like this.