Metals

XAG/USD: Silver / US Dollar

Spot silver priced in US dollars per troy ounce. Silver has both monetary and industrial uses, and typically moves more than gold in percentage terms.

Open an account Chart

What happens next

Choose live or demo, and say where you live. On this website. No name and no e-mail address is asked for here, and nothing is stored.
Register in the client portal. Your name, e-mail address, a password and your country; acceptance of the Terms and the Risk Disclosure. Then you confirm your e-mail address.
Demo: choose your virtual funds and open the terminal. Live: upload your identity documents; an account is opened once they are approved. Live trading is not yet connected.

Market DNA

Below, XAG/USD is taken apart: its class, its contract, its hours and what is connected to it. Structure, not a signal.

Market DNA

What XAG/USD is made of.

Its class, its contract, the hours it lives in and the institutions, releases and ideas connected to it.

This is structure. It is not a score and it is not a signal: it tells you what the instrument is, not what it will do.

BaseXAGSilver

QuoteUSDUS Dollar

The price of XAG/USD is the amount of USD (US Dollar) needed for one troy ounce of silver.

Asset class: Metals
Contract: 1 standard lot = 5,000 troy ounces
Platform symbol: XAGUSD
Typical sessions: Close to 24 hours a day on weekdays, with a short daily break.See the sessions on the World Market Clock
Central bank: Federal Reserve
Concepts: Inflation Volatility

Trading conditions

As published by GIO4X.

Spread from: 0.04 USDminimum, widens with market conditions
Leverage: 1:100depends on instrument and jurisdiction
Minimum lot: 0.01
Contract: 1 standard lot = 5,000 troy ounces
Platform symbol: XAGUSD

IndicativeSource: GIO4XIndicative trading conditions published by GIO4X. Not a live quote; actual spreads and requirements vary with market conditions and account type.

All trading conditions

On the 777 Raptor demo

Demo symbol XAGUSD. How the demo terminal is set up, not GIO4X’s specification for live trading, which is not yet published.

Contract size, 1.00 lot: 5,000 troy ounces; Sizes from 0.01 to 100 lots, in steps of 0.01.
A move of 1.00 in the price, on 1.00 lot: 5,000 USD; 1.00 × the contract size. A pip is a convention of currency pairs; this instrument has none.
Margin per 1.00 lot at 1:100: not available: reading the simulated price; contract size × price ÷ leverage
Margin per 1.00 lot at 1:500: not available: reading the simulated price; 1:500 is the “up to” figure the account types publish: a ceiling, not what an instrument or a client is given

Contract data read from the demo terminal. Demo prices are simulated by GIO4X’s own engine; they are not market prices. Swap rates are not published.

Third-party chart

XAG/USD on a daily chart

The chart is supplied by TradingView and stays unloaded until you ask for it. Loading it connects your browser to TradingView’s servers.

Third partyChart by TradingViewThird-party data for Silver / US Dollar, not supplied or verified by GIO4X and not a GIO4X price. Symbol OANDA:XAGUSD, UTC.

Before you trade it

Work the numbers. Know the words.

Tools

All tools

Glossary

Full glossary

In depth

What is particular to Silver / US Dollar.

Silver is two metals in one: a store of value that follows gold, and an industrial material used because it conducts electricity better than anything else. Its market is far smaller than gold’s, so the same flow of money moves it much further. It tends to exaggerate gold’s moves in both directions, and to part company with gold when industry is weak.

General education about the underlying market. It states no current price or rate, makes no forecast and is not advice. What GIO4X offers on this instrument is in the trading conditions on this page, not here.

What moves it

Gold, amplified: Silver responds to the same forces as gold: real interest rates, the dollar and investors’ appetite for a store of value. Because the market is thinner, it usually moves further in percentage terms. The ratio between the two prices is widely followed; it has ranged very widely over time and has no level to which it must return.
Industrial demand: Industry is the largest source of silver demand: electronics and electrical contacts, solar panels, and alloys used for joining metals. This ties silver to manufacturing and to investment in electrification in a way gold is not tied. In an industrial downturn silver can fall while gold rises, which is when the two diverge most.
Supply that ignores the price: Most silver is not mined for its own sake. It comes out of the ground as a by-product of lead, zinc, copper and gold mining, with Mexico, Peru and China among the largest producers. A higher silver price therefore does little to bring more supply, and a lower one does little to remove it: output follows the fortunes of other metals.
Investment and speculation: Coins, bars, exchange-traded funds and futures make up the investment side, and it is the most changeable. Silver’s low price per ounce draws small investors, and it has repeatedly been the object of buying campaigns. In early 2021 a wave of retail buying organised online lifted the price sharply over a few days and faded as quickly.
Silver Thursday, 27 March 1980: In 1979 and early 1980 a small group of investors accumulated a very large position in silver and silver futures, and the price multiplied. The exchange changed its rules to restrict new buying, the price collapsed, and on 27 March 1980 the group failed to meet a margin call. The episode is the standard example of what happens when one buyer becomes most of a market.

Mechanics

How it is quoted and built.

XAG and the size of a move: XAG is the code for one troy ounce of silver, and XAG/USD is the number of US dollars it costs. Because the price per ounce is a small number compared with gold’s, a move of a few cents is a meaningful percentage. Wholesale contracts are for thousands of ounces for the same reason.
One auction a day: The LBMA Silver Price is set in a single electronic auction at midday in London, where gold has two auctions a day. It replaced the London Silver Fix, which ended in August 2014 after more than a century, and has been administered by ICE Benchmark Administration since 2017. Between auctions the price is whatever dealers quote in the London wholesale market.
The futures exchange: The main futures contract trades on COMEX in New York, part of CME Group, and is for 5,000 troy ounces. As with gold, dealers exchange futures for London metal, which keeps the two prices together in normal conditions. Stocks of metal in exchange-approved warehouses, published daily, are watched as a sign of how tight the deliverable supply is.
Bulk and storage: A given sum of money buys a far greater weight and volume of silver than of gold. The London wholesale bar is roughly 1,000 troy ounces, heavy enough to need handling equipment. Storage and transport therefore cost more as a share of value, which widens the gap between wholesale and retail prices.

Not the same thing

The market itself, and a contract on its price.

Spot reference price: Spot silver is the wholesale price for unallocated metal settled in London. It is quoted continuously by dealers and anchored once a day by the LBMA Silver Price auction. A retail screen shows a provider’s own quote derived from it.
A futures contract: A COMEX future is a commitment to 5,000 ounces in a named delivery month, with daily margin calls on the whole amount. The size of the contract means a small move in the price is a large sum of money. It expires, and its price differs from spot by the cost of carrying metal to that date.
Physical metal: Silver coins and bars carry higher premiums over the metal price than gold ones, because making and shipping cost more relative to the value. In the United Kingdom and the European Union investment gold is exempt from value added tax and silver is not, which widens the gap between buying and selling prices further. Tarnish does not reduce the silver content but can affect what a dealer will pay.
A contract on the price: A contract for difference or margined position follows the silver price without any metal changing hands. Because silver moves further than gold in percentage terms, the same margin supports less room for error. The position depends on the provider and normally carries a financing adjustment when held overnight.

Timetable and sources

What is scheduled, and where the facts come from.

Worth knowing the timetable of

The Federal Open Market Committee’s Interest Rate Decision
The United States Consumer Price Index, monthly
The monthly manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index surveys for the United States and China
The weekly Commitments of Traders report, for positioning in COMEX silver futures
The Silver Institute’s annual World Silver Survey
Daily reports of silver stocks in COMEX-approved warehouses

Named, never dated: dates move. The Economic Events page explains the main releases.

Primary sources

The Silver Institute: World Silver Survey
London Bullion Market Association: LBMA Silver Price, Good Delivery rules and London vault holdings
CME Group: COMEX silver futures contract specifications and warehouse stocks
Commodity Futures Trading Commission: Commitments of Traders

Named by publisher and series, so each can be found from the publisher itself. GIO4X has no connection with them.

What would a trade in it cost?

The cost of a trade is the spread, any commission, and financing for each night it is held. The Cost Lab works the three out for a day trade, an overnight position and a longer hold, from figures you enter. A complete total also needs the swap rates, which are not yet published; the Lab shows which input is missing instead of a total that only looks complete.

Work it out in the Cost Lab

The risk, in ordinary type.

Trading foreign exchange on margin carries a high level of risk, and may not be suitable for all investors. The high degree of leverage can work against you as well as for you. Before deciding to trade foreign exchange you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite. The possibility exists that you could sustain a loss of some or all of your initial investment and therefore you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose.

XAG/USD is traded on margin. Educational information, not investment advice or a recommendation to trade.

Risk disclosure

Continue

Fetching the page

XAG/USDSilver / US Dollar

Spot silver priced in US dollars per troy ounce. Silver has both monetary and industrial uses, and typically moves more than gold in percentage terms.

Open an account Chart

What happens next

Choose live or demo, and say where you live. On this website. No name and no e-mail address is asked for here, and nothing is stored.
Register in the client portal. Your name, e-mail address, a password and your country; acceptance of the Terms and the Risk Disclosure. Then you confirm your e-mail address.
Demo: choose your virtual funds and open the terminal. Live: upload your identity documents; an account is opened once they are approved. Live trading is not yet connected.

As published by GIO4X.

Spread from

0.04 USDminimum, widens with market conditions

Leverage

1:100depends on instrument and jurisdiction

Minimum lot

0.01

Contract

1 standard lot = 5,000 troy ounces

Platform symbol

XAGUSD

IndicativeSource: GIO4XIndicative trading conditions published by GIO4X. Not a live quote; actual spreads and requirements vary with market conditions and account type.

All trading conditions

On the 777 Raptor demo

Demo symbol XAGUSD. How the demo terminal is set up, not GIO4X’s specification for live trading, which is not yet published.

Contract size, 1.00 lot: 5,000 troy ounces; Sizes from 0.01 to 100 lots, in steps of 0.01.
A move of 1.00 in the price, on 1.00 lot: 5,000 USD; 1.00 × the contract size. A pip is a convention of currency pairs; this instrument has none.
Margin per 1.00 lot at 1:100: not available: reading the simulated price; contract size × price ÷ leverage
Margin per 1.00 lot at 1:500: not available: reading the simulated price; 1:500 is the “up to” figure the account types publish: a ceiling, not what an instrument or a client is given

Contract data read from the demo terminal. Demo prices are simulated by GIO4X’s own engine; they are not market prices. Swap rates are not published.

What is particular to Silver / US Dollar.

What moves it

Gold, amplified: Silver responds to the same forces as gold: real interest rates, the dollar and investors’ appetite for a store of value. Because the market is thinner, it usually moves further in percentage terms. The ratio between the two prices is widely followed; it has ranged very widely over time and has no level to which it must return.
Industrial demand: Industry is the largest source of silver demand: electronics and electrical contacts, solar panels, and alloys used for joining metals. This ties silver to manufacturing and to investment in electrification in a way gold is not tied. In an industrial downturn silver can fall while gold rises, which is when the two diverge most.
Supply that ignores the price: Most silver is not mined for its own sake. It comes out of the ground as a by-product of lead, zinc, copper and gold mining, with Mexico, Peru and China among the largest producers. A higher silver price therefore does little to bring more supply, and a lower one does little to remove it: output follows the fortunes of other metals.
Investment and speculation: Coins, bars, exchange-traded funds and futures make up the investment side, and it is the most changeable. Silver’s low price per ounce draws small investors, and it has repeatedly been the object of buying campaigns. In early 2021 a wave of retail buying organised online lifted the price sharply over a few days and faded as quickly.
Silver Thursday, 27 March 1980: In 1979 and early 1980 a small group of investors accumulated a very large position in silver and silver futures, and the price multiplied. The exchange changed its rules to restrict new buying, the price collapsed, and on 27 March 1980 the group failed to meet a margin call. The episode is the standard example of what happens when one buyer becomes most of a market.

How it is quoted and built.

XAG and the size of a move: XAG is the code for one troy ounce of silver, and XAG/USD is the number of US dollars it costs. Because the price per ounce is a small number compared with gold’s, a move of a few cents is a meaningful percentage. Wholesale contracts are for thousands of ounces for the same reason.
One auction a day: The LBMA Silver Price is set in a single electronic auction at midday in London, where gold has two auctions a day. It replaced the London Silver Fix, which ended in August 2014 after more than a century, and has been administered by ICE Benchmark Administration since 2017. Between auctions the price is whatever dealers quote in the London wholesale market.
The futures exchange: The main futures contract trades on COMEX in New York, part of CME Group, and is for 5,000 troy ounces. As with gold, dealers exchange futures for London metal, which keeps the two prices together in normal conditions. Stocks of metal in exchange-approved warehouses, published daily, are watched as a sign of how tight the deliverable supply is.
Bulk and storage: A given sum of money buys a far greater weight and volume of silver than of gold. The London wholesale bar is roughly 1,000 troy ounces, heavy enough to need handling equipment. Storage and transport therefore cost more as a share of value, which widens the gap between wholesale and retail prices.

The market itself, and a contract on its price.

Spot reference price: Spot silver is the wholesale price for unallocated metal settled in London. It is quoted continuously by dealers and anchored once a day by the LBMA Silver Price auction. A retail screen shows a provider’s own quote derived from it.
A futures contract: A COMEX future is a commitment to 5,000 ounces in a named delivery month, with daily margin calls on the whole amount. The size of the contract means a small move in the price is a large sum of money. It expires, and its price differs from spot by the cost of carrying metal to that date.
Physical metal: Silver coins and bars carry higher premiums over the metal price than gold ones, because making and shipping cost more relative to the value. In the United Kingdom and the European Union investment gold is exempt from value added tax and silver is not, which widens the gap between buying and selling prices further. Tarnish does not reduce the silver content but can affect what a dealer will pay.
A contract on the price: A contract for difference or margined position follows the silver price without any metal changing hands. Because silver moves further than gold in percentage terms, the same margin supports less room for error. The position depends on the provider and normally carries a financing adjustment when held overnight.

What is scheduled, and where the facts come from.

Worth knowing the timetable of

The Federal Open Market Committee’s Interest Rate Decision
The United States Consumer Price Index, monthly
The monthly manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index surveys for the United States and China
The weekly Commitments of Traders report, for positioning in COMEX silver futures
The Silver Institute’s annual World Silver Survey
Daily reports of silver stocks in COMEX-approved warehouses

Named, never dated: dates move. The Economic Events page explains the main releases.

Primary sources

The Silver Institute: World Silver Survey
London Bullion Market Association: LBMA Silver Price, Good Delivery rules and London vault holdings
CME Group: COMEX silver futures contract specifications and warehouse stocks
Commodity Futures Trading Commission: Commitments of Traders

Named by publisher and series, so each can be found from the publisher itself. GIO4X has no connection with them.

What would a trade in it cost?

Work it out in the Cost Lab

The risk, in ordinary type.

XAG/USD is traded on margin. Educational information, not investment advice or a recommendation to trade.

Risk disclosure