The Japan Times - Precious metals slump as stocks near end of banner 2025

After a string recent records, silver prices sank around 10 percent while gold and other metals also pulled back.

"What goes up must come down, and the pullback in silver has been rapid, as investors book profits before year end, after the silver price has surged more than 150 percent in 2025," said a note from Kathleen Brooks of XTB.

While "there is undoubtedly a bubble in silver," stockpiling by China could limit the downside from here, said Brooks.

"The sell-off in silver is leading to a general risk off tone elsewhere," she added.

Some of the same dynamics appeared to drive activity on Wall Street where all three major indices spent the day in the red.

The broad-based S&P 500, which has risen more than 17 percent so far in 2025, finished 0.4 percent lower.

"People are probably just taking profits at this point" especially in the big tech stocks, said CFRA Research's Sam Stovall.

"Investors are really just sort of trimming their book, aligning their portfolio the way they would like it to look as they enter 2026."

In Europe, London and Frankfurt were both flat at the close while Paris barely inched into the green.

While this week's calendar is light as far economic releases, the minutes from the last Federal Reserve meeting are to be published Tuesday and traders will be poring over their contents for any indication about the Fed's plans for 2026.

The prospect of interest rate cuts has helped push world stock markets to multiple record highs this year, offsetting worries about stretched valuations in the tech sector.

"Concerns about overvaluations and an AI bubble look set to continue to dominate market chatter into next year," Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, noted on Monday.

Oil prices rose more than two percent, reversing a similar-sized Friday dip after a weekend meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky did not lead to an immediate breakthrough.

An end to the war could see sanctions on Russian oil removed, adding to an oversupplied market.

- Key figures at around 2115 GMT -

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.5 percent at 48,461.93 (close)

New York - S&P 500: DOWN 0.4 percent at 6,905.74 (close)

New York - Nasdaq: DOWN 0.5 percent at 23,474.35 (close)

London - FTSE 100: FLAT at 9,866.53 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.1 percent at 8,112.02 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.1 percent at 24,351.124 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.4 percent at 50,526.92 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.7 percent at 25,635.23 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: FLAT at 3,965.28 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1766 from $1.1772 on Friday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3504 from $1.3550

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 156.06 yen from 156.57 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 87.00 pence from 87.22 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 2.1 percent at $61.94 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.4 percent at $58.08 per barrel

T.Maeda--JT