Silver Price Today slides sharply as a futures-driven selloff deepens

Silver Price Today was lower by a wide margin in late U.S. trading, extending a violent pullback that has reverberated across precious-metals markets. The drop matters because it has been large enough to trigger risk controls and higher collateral demands in derivatives markets, raising the odds of continued volatility into the next few sessions.

As of 6:19 p.m. ET on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, widely followed spot and futures quotes were clustered in the mid-$80s per ounce after falling more than 25% on the day from the prior close.

Silver Price Today: why the move is so big

The scale of the decline stands out even in a market known for sharp swings. Silver’s dual role—part monetary metal, part industrial input—can amplify moves when traders de-risk broadly, especially if positions were built with leverage. When prices fall fast, margin requirements, stop orders, and risk limits can interact in a self-reinforcing loop, producing outsized intraday ranges like Saturday’s roughly $45 spread between the session high and low in spot pricing.

Market participants have also been parsing whether the selloff is primarily a “metals story” or part of a wider risk-reduction move. Either way, silver’s high volatility relative to gold tends to make it a focal point when liquidity tightens and positioning is forced to reset.

Margin and risk controls move to center stage

A key development for traders is that CME Group is raising margins on Comex gold and silver futures after a historic plunge in prices. Higher margins effectively increase the cash required to hold positions, which can reduce leverage and—at least temporarily—shrink the pool of marginal buyers willing to step in during a drawdown.

In practical terms, margin hikes can cut both ways: they may dampen speculative excess over time, but in the short run they can intensify pressure if some participants must sell to meet new collateral demands. That dynamic is one reason large one-day moves sometimes echo into the next session even after the initial catalyst fades. 

Spot vs futures signals diverge only slightly

Spot and futures were broadly aligned around the mid-$80s per ounce, suggesting the selloff was not confined to a single venue. The futures quote snapshot showed heavy volume alongside the steep decline, a pattern consistent with widespread position reduction rather than a thin-market wobble. Meanwhile, spot pricing showed the clearest picture of the day’s extreme range, reinforcing how quickly the market moved through multiple price levels.

When spot and futures track closely during a sharp drop, it often implies that hedging and speculative flows are reinforcing each other across markets. That can keep volatility elevated until the pace of forced activity slows and two-way trading returns.

What could calm the tape next

The next signals traders will likely watch are observable rather than narrative-driven:

• whether post-hike margin levels lead to stabilizing open interest and lower realized volatility, and

• whether intraday ranges begin to compress from “panic-band” levels toward more typical daily swings.

If prices remain near the day’s lows while collateral demands rise, liquidation risk can linger. If, instead, silver holds above recent troughs and day ranges narrow, it can indicate that the most urgent selling has passed—though that would not rule out further sharp swings in either direction.

For now, the market’s message is straightforward: silver is repricing rapidly, and the plumbing of futures risk management is becoming just as important as macro headlines in determining near-term direction.

Sources consulted: CME Group; Kitco; Bloomberg; Investing.com