Citigroup has sharply raised its short-term outlook for silver after the metal surged past earlier expectations, driven by strong investor demand and momentum-led buying.
By press time, silver was trading at $112, having gained almost 55% in 2026 alone amid broader investor interest in safe-haven commodities.
The bank now sees significantly more upside in the coming weeks, reflecting what it views as an unusually powerful rally.
Citi’s silver outlook
According to Maximilian Layton, Citi’s Global Head of Commodities Research, silver has already moved past Citi’s previous 0–3 month target, which had been upgraded only weeks earlier. In response to the accelerating rally, Citi now expects a further 30% to 40% upside in the coming weeks, lifting its near-term point price target to $150 an ounce.
Notably, this comes after silver recently touched a record intraday high near $118 an ounce on January 26, while the gold-to-silver ratio fell below 50, supporting Citi’s long-standing view that silver will outperform gold.
“We have been bullish silver both outright and relative to gold for many months, and remain so over the coming weeks.<…> We remain tactically bullish and upgrade our 0–3m point price target to $150/oz,” Layton said
Layton noted that the rally is being driven primarily by capital flows rather than traditional fundamentals, with silver increasingly trading as a leveraged version of gold.
He said heightened geopolitical risks and renewed concerns over U.S. Federal Reserve independence are fueling strong investment and speculative demand, keeping Citi tactically bullish.
At the same time, Citi’s analysis indicated that China is leading the surge, with India and broader global retail participation also contributing.
To this end, market premiums in China and India have risen sharply, even as typically bearish signals such as declining ETF holdings and softer Comex positioning have failed to slow price gains.
While Chinese authorities have introduced tighter measures, including higher margin requirements and restrictions on silver ETF subscriptions, Layton said these steps are unlikely to materially curb retail demand.
Silver’s long-term outlook
Looking at longer-term historical relationships, Citi said further compression in the gold-to-silver ratio could justify prices in the $160 to $170 range, although more extreme outcomes are considered unlikely.
Additional support for silver has been highlighted by Claudio Wewel, a strategist at J. Safra Sarasin, who pointed to falling expectations for U.S. interest rate cuts, silver’s growing status as a critical mineral, and tightening global supply conditions.
Wewel also noted that restrictions on Chinese exports and gold’s record-high prices are pushing investors toward silver as an alternative safe-haven asset.
Meanwhile, despite the bullish outlook and the ongoing rally, several market players have warned that the current gains may be short-lived, as the asset’s historical trends suggest a pullback could be imminent.
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