Silver's run toward the $US100 an ounce mark comes as investors pile into safe-haven assets in the backdrop of geopolitical turmoil and amid expectations of lower interest rates by the US Federal Reserve.
The white metal has surged more than 200 per cent in the past year, also driven by ongoing challenges in scaling up refining of silver and a persistent supply shortage in the market.
"Silver should continue to benefit from many of the same forces supporting gold investment demand," Philip Newman, a director at Metals Focus, said.
"Additional support will come from ongoing tariff concerns and still low physical liquidity in the London market."
"Traders pushed steadily for and achieved the milestone $US100 print; investors will wait to see if it can sustain through the close or will there be profit-taking from recent speculators," independent metals trader Tai Wong said.
The biggest marketplace for physical silver - as well as gold - is London, where banks and brokers handle buy and sell orders from clients across the world.
Trading is done bilaterally over-the-counter between financial institutions, and an investor must have a relationship with one of these to access the market.
The market is underpinned by bars of bullion which sit in the vaults of large banks such as JPMorgan and HSBC.
As of the end of December 2025, London vaults held 27,818 tons of silver.
Silver also trades on futures exchanges.
The largest are the Shanghai Futures Exchange in China and CME Group's COMEX in New York.
Futures are contracts in which the seller pledges to deliver silver to the buyer on a later date.
They are typically traded through a broker.
Smaller investors can also buy silver bars and coins from retailers around the world.
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