Silver jumped over 1% to above $53 per ounce on Tuesday, hitting fresh record highs as a historic short squeeze and tightening liquidity in London drove traders to scramble for physical supply globally. Lease rates in London soared more than 30% on Friday, pushing rollover costs for short positions to unsustainable levels. At the same time, surging demand from India in recent weeks further strained supply, following earlier shipments of silver to New York amid fears the metal could face US tariffs. On the geopolitical front, markets remained focused on US-China trade dynamics ahead of a potential Trump-Xi meeting in South Korea later this month. Meanwhile, expectations for another Federal Reserve quarter-point rate cut this month, followed by a likely move in December, continued to support precious metals.
