U.S. COMEX Silver Slides 10% As Global & Domestic Silver ETF Prices Retreat

On Wednesday, February 5, silver prices fell sharply. COMEX silver futures fell 10% in just one session, showing that the global and domestic precious metal markets were pulling back after reaching record highs.

COMEX silver futures dropped to $73.415 per ounce on February 5, while COMEX gold futures declined 1.5% to $4,805 per ounce, according to COMEX price data. In Asian trade, silver fell to $73.57 per ounce, and gold declined to $4,971.55 per ounce, as per international market quotes.

In the domestic market, silver futures on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) fell 6% to ₹2,52,719 per kilogram on February 5. Gold futures with April expiry declined around 2% to ₹1,48,455 per 10 grams, according to MCX data. Contracts with later expiries also recorded similar declines during the session.

The fall followed extreme volatility in international markets. Spot silver had touched a record high of $121.64 per ounce last week, while spot gold reached a record peak of $5,594.82 per ounce on January 30, based on global market data. Both metals reversed sharply from those levels in the final sessions of January.

Exchange-traded funds tracking precious metals also recorded steep losses on February 5. Silver ETFs declined up to 16% during early trade, reflecting the sharp fall in underlying futures prices. Kotak Silver ETF fell about 17% to ₹231 per unit, while Edelweiss Silver ETF declined over 15%, according to exchange data. Several other silver ETFs, including those from Mirae Asset, UTI, Axis, ICICI Prudential and HDFC, declined in the range of 12–14% during the session.

Gold ETFs also moved lower in line with gold futures. Motilal Oswal Gold ETF declined around 5.5%, while several other gold ETFs fell close to 5% on February 5, as per exchange data.

The sharp decline followed a strong rally in precious metals through January. Global price movements showed that silver recorded its steepest single-day fall late last week, while gold posted its sharpest decline in more than a decade, based on historical market data.

The recent surge and subsequent fall in silver prices has drawn comparisons to the late-1970s episode involving Nelson Bunker Hunt and William Herbert Hunt. During that period, silver prices rose from about $6 per ounce to nearly $50 per ounce by 1980 before collapsing after exchanges raised margin requirements, an event later referred to as “Silver Thursday,” according to historical COMEX records.

As of February 5, market data from MCX, COMEX and exchange disclosures showed that both silver and gold prices remained well below their recent record highs, while volatility continued across precious metal-linked instruments.