New York, February 2, 2026, 09:01 EST — Premarket
- PSLV slipped in premarket trading following a sharp fall on Friday.
- Silver stays choppy following a sharp reversal of its record rally; rising futures margins weigh on the metal.
- Next on the docket: U.S. factory activity numbers out today, followed by the January jobs report later this week.
Units of Sprott Physical Silver Trust slipped 3.1% to $25.59 in premarket, following a 27.2% drop on Friday that closed at $26.41. (Investing)
The silver market is still reeling from a sharp two-day drop. Spot silver slipped 1.1% to $83.73 an ounce, after tumbling as much as 15% earlier. The selloff followed CME Group’s hike in margin requirements — the collateral traders must post for futures positions — set to kick in after Monday’s close. “It is creating a feedback loop,” said Zain Vawda at MarketPulse by OANDA. (Reuters)
Silver’s plunge has been just as intense as its earlier surge. The metal more than doubled in just six weeks, hitting a peak of $121.64 an ounce on Jan. 29. Reuters tied this rally to a rush for non-dollar assets and a wave of retail speculation. Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, noted, “we’ve had record turnover in options markets related to silver products.” (Reuters)
Politics is clearly influencing the tape. Traders quickly recalibrated interest-rate bets after U.S. President Donald Trump named Kevin Warsh to head the Federal Reserve, set to replace Jerome Powell in May. The stronger dollar added to the strain on commodities. “The decision by markets to sell precious metals alongside U.S. equities suggests investors view Warsh as more hawkish,” noted Vivek Dhar at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. (Reuters)
The trust is a closed-end fund holding fully allocated London Good Delivery silver bars, and its trading price can diverge from the net asset value (NAV) of its metal. According to Sprott’s latest data, the NAV per unit stood at $29.15 on Jan. 30, while the U.S.-listed shares closed Friday at roughly a 9.4% discount. The trust reported silver holdings totaling about 217.7 million ounces. The bullion is stored at the Royal Canadian Mint, with the U.S. listing on NYSE Arca. (Sprott)
Other silver-backed products dipped ahead of the open. The iShares Silver Trust showed a premarket price of $73.73, with the abrdn Physical Silver Shares ETF last seen at $77.50. (Investing)
The selloff is spilling over into wider markets. Reuters noted U.S. stock index futures dipped alongside miners following bullion’s decline. Daniela Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com, said the “positioning-led adjustment” is happening amid thin liquidity and increased sensitivity to macro headlines. (Reuters)
Premarket action tends to be volatile, and this is shaping up as much a margin play as a metals one. Should rising collateral requirements spark another wave of forced selling, silver-linked funds could open sharply lower — pushing discounts to NAV even wider.
The next catalysts are coming fast: the Institute for Supply Management will drop its manufacturing PMI at 10:00 a.m. ET on the first business day of the month. Then, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is set to release the January 2026 Employment Situation report at 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday, Feb. 6. (Institute for Supply Management)
