Business
Why has the price of silver hit a record high?
The price of silver has hit a record high ahead of an expected US Federal Reserve interest rate cut and as demand from the technology industry for the precious metal remains high.
Silver crossed $60 (£45.10) an ounce on the spot market, where the precious metal is bought and sold for immediate delivery, for the first time on Tuesday.
Gold, which hit record highs earlier this year as concerns grew about the impact of US tariffs and the global economic outlook, also made gains this week.
Investors tend to move money into precious metals like gold and silver as interest rates come down and the US dollar weakens.
The US central bank is widely expected to cut its main interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday.
When interest rates are cut, traders typically buy assets like silver because the benefits of keeping cash in the bank or buying short-term bonds falls, said Yeow Hee Chua from the Nanyang Technological University.
“That naturally shifts demand toward assets viewed as stores of value, including silver,” he said.
The move into so-called “safe-haven” assets was also a key reason for gold hitting new record highs in recent months, as it crossed $4,000 an ounce for the first time.
Silver’s rally could also be seen a “spillover effect” from the jump in the value of gold as investors look for cheaper alternatives, said OCBC bank analyst Christopher Wong.
Gold has gained more than 50% this year, partly due to major purchases by central banks. The price of platinum and palladium have also climbed this year.
Experts say the value of silver was also pushed up as strong demand from the technology industry outstripped supplies.
That has helped more than double the value of silver this year as it outperformed other precious metals, including gold.
“Silver is not only an investment asset but also a physical resource,” and more manufacturers are finding a need for the material, said Kosmas Marinakis from the Singapore Management University.
The precious metal, which conducts electricity better than gold or copper, is used to produce goods like electric vehicles (EVs) and solar panels.
Experts predict that rising sales of EVs will further push up demand for silver, while advanced batteries for the cars will require even more of the metal.
But it is difficult to quickly increase silver supplies as the majority of global output is a by-product from mines that mainly extract other metals like lead, copper or gold.
The price of silver is also being boosted by concerns that the US may impose tariffs on it as part of President Donald Trump’s trade policies.
Fears of potential tariffs have also led to stockpiling of silver in the US, resulting in shortages elsewhere in the world.
The US imports about two-thirds of its silver, which is used for manufacturing as well as jewellery and investment.
Manufacturers have been racing to secure supplies to ensure their operations are not interrupted by shortages, which has helped to push up prices on global markets, said Prof Marinakis.
He added that he expects the price of silver to remain high in the coming months.
Mumbai: Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty closed lower on Wednesday as investors stayed cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision due later in the day.
The Sensex fell 275.01 points, or 0.32 per cent, to finish at 84,391.27. The Nifty also slipped 81.65 points, or 0.32 per cent, to settle at 25,758.
“Structurally, Nifty continues to face strong supply in the 25,940–26,050 zone, keeping the broader setup range-bound to mildly bullish,” market watchers said.
“A decisive breakout above 26,000 remains essential to revive upside momentum. On the downside, a sustained break below 25,700 could expose the index to 25,600–25,500, with volatility expected to intensify near these support clusters,” they added.
Bank Nifty also ended marginally lower — indicating a pause in the prevailing uptrend rather than a trend reversal.
The index opened near 59,280, moved up to 59,440, but later slipped to an intra-day low of 58,850 before closing around 58,990, down nearly 0.4 per cent.
Among the Sensex stocks, Tata Steel, Sun Pharma and ITC were the top performers. On the other hand, Eternal, Trent and Bharti Airtel dragged the index down with notable losses.
The mood was weak in the broader market as well. The Nifty MidCap 100 index declined 1.12 per cent, while the Nifty SmallCap 100 index shed 0.90 per cent by the close.
Sector-wise, consumer durables stocks saw the sharpest fall, with the Nifty Consumer Durables index tumbling 1.72 per cent.
IT and PSU bank shares also slipped, down 0.89 per cent and 0.70 per cent, respectively.
In contrast, Nifty Metal and Nifty Media indices ended the day on a positive note, emerging as the top sectoral gainers.
“Focus now shifts to the upcoming US Fed meeting, where a 25-bps rate cut is widely expected,” experts stated.
“However, internal divisions and mixed economic indicators may temper expectations for further rate cuts in 2026,” they added.
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“Amazon to date has invested USD 40 billion in India since 2010. Now we will invest another USD 35 billion by 2030 across all our businesses in India,” Agarwal said.
Amazon To Invest USD 35 Bn In India By 2030 With Focus On AI-Driven Digitalisation
E-commerce giant Amazon is set to invest a mega-investment of USD 35 billion, over Rs 3.14 lakh crore, in India by 2030 across its businesses with a focus on AI-driven digitisation, export growth and job creation, a senior company official said on Wednesday.
Senior VP Emerging Markets, Amit Agarwal, made the announcement during the Amazon Smbhav Summit, saying the company has set a target to quadruple exports from India to USD 80 billion from about USD 20 billion.
“Amazon to date has invested USD 40 billion in India since 2010. Now we will invest another USD 35 billion by 2030 across all our businesses in India,” Agarwal said.
Amazon’s investment plan is two times of Microsoft’s investment plan of USD 17.5 billion and close to 2.3 times that of Google’s USD 15 billion investment plan by 2030.
With this investment, Amazon will become the largest foreign investor in India, according to a Keystone report compiled from publicly available data.
In May 2023, Amazon announced plans to invest USD 12.7 billion in India by 2030 into its local cloud and AI infrastructure across Telangana and Maharashtra. The company has already invested USD 3.7 billion in India between 2016 and 2022.
The company has invested at scale towards building physical and digital infrastructure, including fulfilment centres, transportation networks, data centres, digital payments infrastructure and technology development.
According to the Keystone report, Amazon has digitized over 12 million small businesses and enabled USD 20 billion in cumulative ecommerce exports, while supporting approximately 2.8 million direct, indirect, induced and seasonal jobs across industries in India in 2024.
(With inputs from agencies)
Click here to add News18 as your preferred news source on Google. December 10, 2025, 10:58 IST
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Stock market today: Nifty50 opens above 25,850; BSE Sensex up over 100 points – The Times of India
Stock market today: Nifty50 and BSE Sensex, the Indian equity benchmark indices, opened in green on Wednesday. While Nifty50 was above 25,850, BSE Sensex was up over 100 points. At 9:17 AM, Nifty50 was trading at 25,865.25, up 26 points or 0.099%. BSE Sensex was at 84,804.28, up 138 points.Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited says, “As the year slowly draws to a close the market structure is becoming challenging. Heavy selling in the broader market is justified since valuations have been elevated and kept high only on the strength of liquidity. This is unsustainable. But the weakness in the overall market and sustained selling by FIIs are a bit disappointing. A major concern is the excessive delay in the finalisation of the US-India trade deal. A remark by President Trump yesterday that action should be taken on India for dumping rice in the US hurt sentiments further.”“Fundamentals are turning in favour of India. Higher growth and corporate earnings are achievable in the quarters ahead. The fiscal and monetary stimulus provided this year have started producing results. The excessively low inflation rate, which impacted nominal GDP growth, also will start rising in the coming quarters. This is significant since corporate earnings growth will be influenced more by nominal GDP growth rather than by real GDP growth. The fact that valuations in the large cap segment have become fair is another positive. These positive factors will start weighing on the market soon. Investors have to keep faith and wait patiently for the fundamentals to play out.”The S&P 500 declined on Tuesday as investors anticipated hawkish Federal Reserve messaging despite potential rate cuts. JPMorgan contributed significantly to the benchmark index’s decline following the bank’s announcement of substantial 2026 expenses.Asian markets showed modest gains following Wall Street’s subdued session, with investors awaiting the Federal Reserve’s final interest rate decision of the year.Foreign portfolio investors recorded net sales of Rs 3,760 crore on Tuesday, whilst domestic institutional investors showed net purchases of Rs 6,225 crore.(Disclaimer: Recommendations and views on the stock market, other asset classes or personal finance management tips given by experts are their own. These opinions do not represent the views of The Times of India)
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