- Silver volatility remains extremely elevated
- $79 key near-term level to watch
- Directional risks now more balanced
Friday’s historic rout in silver has validated the warning signs flagged late last week. What had become a stretched, speculation-heavy rally finally gave way, delivering a violent reset on a scale never seen before.
The fallout didn’t end with Friday’s close. Silver gapped lower by around 5% on the open in Asia before volatility surged, with price whipping nearly $10 higher ahead of mainland Chinese markets reopening. While rallies continue to be sold into, one feature stands out on the tick chart: repeated and aggressive buying interest around the $79 level. Five strong bounces have already emerged from that area, making it the key near-term battleground to watch.
Source: LSEG Workstation
Despite those reactions, the broader price action still looks heavy. Directional risks remain skewed to the downside for now, but $79 is clearly where the market is drawing a line, at least in the very short term. A clean break below would likely reopen downside momentum, while continued defence could keep conditions choppy.
Zooming out to the daily chart reinforces that message. Beneath $79, the next major downside level of note is the 50-day moving average at $75.83, standing out after the price bounced aggressively from beneath it into Friday’s close. Other minor levels are annotated below, but that level is the one to watch should selling pressure intensify.
Source: TradingView
On the topside, an earlier squeeze stalled at the November uptrend found today around $88, the same level where the acceleration in silver’s surge began earlier this year. That makes it the first meaningful resistance to monitor heading into the European session.
Momentum indicators naturally reflect the abrupt shift seen over the past two sessions. RSI (14) has flipped from deeply overbought to below the neutral 50 level, breaking the uptrend that had been in place since late December. MACD has crossed its signal line from above, easing from extreme readings but remaining historically elevated.
From a directional perspective, risks now look far more balanced than they did late last week. Volatility, however, is anything but normal. ATR (14) is sitting at 9.475, an extraordinary reading for a metal that was trading below $40 just six months ago. The message is clear: the easy part of the move looks to be over, with patience now key when assessing whether to position for an extended bear trend or a meaningful bullish retracement.
