Silver is the last market on The Daily Board and the one that tends to move the most. It trades like gold in some ways and like an industrial metal in others. This guide explains how silver is quoted, what moves it and what to watch. Unfamiliar terms are explained in the commodity market glossary, and the companion guide covers gold futures.
How silver is quoted
Contract: COMEX silver futures (SI), traded in New York.
Units: US dollars per troy ounce.
Size: one contract covers 5,000 troy ounces, which is why a one-dollar move changes a contract's value by $5,000.
Contract months: March, May, July, September and December are the most active. The Board labels the month it quotes, because the front month rolls forward over time.
What moves the price
Gold's drivers: the U.S. dollar, real (inflation-adjusted) interest rates and Federal Reserve expectations affect silver the same way they affect gold. A stronger dollar and rising real yields tend to weigh on it.
Industrial demand: a large share of silver goes into electronics, solar panels and other industrial uses, so signs of slowing or accelerating growth can move the price.
Investment demand: flows into silver funds, bars and coins add to the safe-haven side.
Supply: most silver is mined as a by-product of other metals, so supply doesn't respond quickly to price. Inventories held at COMEX and elsewhere can also matter in tight markets.
Reports and events to watch
Fed meetings and speeches, plus U.S. CPI and PPI inflation data.
The monthly jobs report, usually on the first Friday of the month.
Manufacturing surveys and Chinese industrial data, as reads on industrial demand.
The Silver Institute's annual World Silver Survey, which summarizes supply and demand for the year.
Why silver moves more than gold
Silver's market is smaller and thinner than gold's, and part of its demand is industrial. That makes it more sensitive to changes in growth expectations and investor sentiment, so it often moves by a larger percentage in either direction. A day when gold slips 1% can see silver fall 2% or more, and the reverse on a strong day.
The gold-silver ratio
The ratio is the price of gold divided by the price of silver. A rising ratio means silver is lagging gold, and a falling ratio means silver is outperforming. The Daily Board often notes the ratio when the two metals split, because it shows whether a move is metals-wide or specific to silver.
Why it matters on the Prairies
The dollar and interest rates that move silver also move grain prices, the Canadian dollar and farm borrowing costs. Silver's industrial side also works as a rough read on global growth, which feeds into energy demand and the broader risk mood that carries across the whole board.
See it in practice
Read how silver behaved on a hot inflation print in Silver Sinks 5% on Hot PPI as Grains Rally, or browse every silver edition. For how each edition is built and where the prices come from, see How to Read The Daily Board and the About page.
This guide explains how the market works. It is not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell.