Silver Rockets to a 13-Year High as Gold Stalls in Rare Divergence Not Seen Since Clinton Era

The “second-place” metal is finally stepping into the spotlight. Silver is surging on fears of Middle East escalation, even outshining gold — a surprise given gold’s status as the classic crisis hedge. Silver futuresSLV

hit a 13-year high earlier this week and are now up 24% YTD. GoldGLD

, by contrast, has risen 27% this year but traded flat in recent weeks. This divergence marks the longest decoupling between the two metals since 1999 when Y2K panic sent markets scrambling.

• Over the past 50 years, gold and silver have moved in the same direction on 78.9% of trading days — with only six similar divergence streaks seen since 2000.
• The gold-to-silver ratio has dropped to ~91, down from the extreme levels above 100 earlier this year during tariff-driven market shocks.

Finding the silver lining: Investors are flocking to silver for its dual role as a safe haven and industrial metal, with recent correlations showing it’s moving as much with copper as with gold. While geopolitical tensions from potential US intervention in the Israel-Iran conflict initially sparked silver’s rally, analysts believe gold’s muted response follows historical patterns where geopolitical shocks don’t create lasting price increases. Yet, strategists remain optimistic about gold’s bullish sentiment, with UBS analysts noting, “Gold’s pause bodes well for the next leg higher,” suggesting the yellow metal may be preparing for another run at April’s $3.5K all-time high.