Silver steadied around $63.5 per ounce on Monday, hovering near record highs and up more than 100% year-to-date. The rally has been supported by tightening inventories, robust industrial demand, and the metal’s inclusion on the US critical minerals list. Demand has been particularly strong from the solar, electric vehicle, and data center sectors. Additional support came from strong ETF inflows and retail buying, reinforcing expectations of a market deficit next year. Silver also benefited from a softer dollar following last week’s Federal Reserve rate cut, although prospects for further easing in 2026 remain uncertain. Despite these gains, silver pulled back over 2% on Friday amid analyst warnings about stretched valuations relative to gold and potential impacts from US tariff exemptions.