Silver, Copper Eclipse Gold as Top Metals Bets on Supply Fears

Silver and copper have replaced gold as the hot metal trade heading into 2026, with institutional and retail traders positioning for record rallies.

Silver has nearly doubled this year, with most gains occurring in the past two months due to a historic supply squeeze in the benchmark London market amid surging demand from India and silver-backed exchange-traded funds. While that crunch has eased in recent weeks as more metal is shipped to London vaults, other markets have seen supply constraints: Chinese inventories are at decade lows.