Silver Spot Price Today
What Drives the Price of Silver
Just like its precious metal counterparts, there are a number of factors which move the needle when it comes to the market value of silver. Here are a few of the main influences:
Industry Demand – Whereas gold is not particularly impacted in the same way by industrial demand, silver prices certainly are. This is particularly true when it comes to the tech sector as silver is widely used in microchips and other electronic devices. A higher demand here will generally increase prices.
Currency Strength – Notably the US Dollar strength can have a big influence in determining silver price as it can with most precious metals. The relationship between the two is an inverse one. This means that a strengthening USD will lead to a decrease in the price of silver, while a weakening Dollar will lead to increasing silver prices.
Economic Conditions – Particularly when it comes to its presence in the jewelry sector, silver is a precious metal which can benefit from positive economic conditions. With a more positive economy, people typically have more money to spend on luxury items such as jewelry. This can lead to increased silver prices. Demand during prosperous times is also much higher when it comes to the common appliances within which silver is used.
Inflation – Similar to gold but perhaps to a lesser degree, silver is also consider to be a good hedge against inflation from an investor perspective. With its purchasing power intact as inflation works to devalue paper currency, silver prices tend to spike during inflationary and hyper-inflationary periods.
Historical Price Charts
Why Silver Matters
Silver ranks second only to gold in the ranking of the most popular precious metals worldwide. With that sad, there are many reasons why silver can matter just as much as gold or the other top precious metals on the market.
Of course, just like gold, silver has a certain amount of popular appeal due to its function as a store of value. This is slightly more limited given the fluctuations that can occur in silver prices, and the fact there is considerably more silver available in the world than gold. Still it is held by many longer term investors.
What really sets silver apart though in terms of importance, are its practical uses. Yes, it is in high demand as a stylish cornerstone of the jewelry sector, but where silver really shines is for its industrial uses. Silver is an important component in thousands of household electronic items we use every day. Microchips and many other electric components of all your favorite devices feature at least some silver. So too do many of our mirrors, medicines, and solar panels around the globe.
With most of the world’s silver being a by-product of zinc, lead, and copper production, then even though it is more widely available in terms of quantity, it is quite difficult to produce. This serves to limit the global supply and maintain the metal at a high value.
