Silver Rises Over 120% YTD 
🌆 Evening News Nuggets | Today’s top stories for gold and silver investors
March 31st, 2026 | Brandon Sauerwein, Editor
Gold and Silver Close Q1 With a Bang — But the Quarter Was Anything But Calm
Both metals ended the first quarter with their strongest session in weeks. Gold surged 3.49% to close at $4,671, while silver posted an even bigger move, jumping 7.50% to $75.19 — a powerful finish to one of the most volatile quarters in precious metals history.
$4,671.39
$75.19
Daily closes, Jan 1 – Mar 31, 2026. Source: Investing.com (XAU/USD, XAG/USD). YTD calculated from Jan 2 close (Gold $4,330.50 / Silver $72.66).
What Drove Today’s Rally?
The U.S. administration’s use of Section 122 to impose universal 10% tariffs pushed more investors toward gold as a hedge against systemic risk, with Trade Representative Jamieson Greer signaling rates could climb to 15% following a new Supreme Court ruling. A large-scale rotation out of equities into long-term Treasuries pushed 10-year bond yields to their lowest level in four months. LiteFinance Middle East tensions added further safe-haven demand.
But today was also — unusually — a strong day for stocks. The Dow jumped 1,125 points and the S&P 500 gained 2.91% after unconfirmed reports emerged that Iran’s President Pezeshkian is open to ending hostilities under specific guarantees. CNBC When metals and equities rally together, the message is clear: the market isn’t just chasing safety — it’s pricing in relief from the uncertainty itself.
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How Did Q1 Actually Unfold?
The chart above tells the full story. Q1’s path was anything but straight. Gold and silver both exploded higher in January. Gold ran from roughly $4,330 at the open of the year all the way to an intraday high of $5,589 — a record — in the final week of January. Silver’s move was even more dramatic, surging from $72.66 on January 2 to an intraday peak of $121.67, a gain of nearly 68% in under four weeks.
Then came January 30: Trump’s nomination of hawkish Fed governor Kevin Warsh as Fed chair triggered a massive selloff, as bets on rate cuts evaporated overnight. Investing News Network Silver cratered 27% in a single session. Gold shed nearly 10%. It was the largest single-day drop for precious metals in decades.
The recovery was uneven. Gold climbed back to $5,327 by early March. Then a new set of pressures took over: a hawkish Federal Reserve hold, an escalating U.S.-Iran war disrupting global energy infrastructure, and oscillating oil prices whipsawed risk sentiment CNBC, dragging gold back below $4,500 by mid-March and silver to a Q1 low of $67.79.
Stocks Surge to End Q1
Stocks surged on the final day of the quarter after unconfirmed reports emerged that Iranian President Pezeshkian is open to ending the war. The Dow gained 1,125 points (+2.49%), the S&P 500 jumped 2.91% to close at 6,528.52, and the Nasdaq surged 3.83% — the best day for all three indexes since May. CNBC
Despite today’s surge, the S&P 500 still lost 5.1% in March — its worst monthly performance since 2022. The Dow dropped 5.4%, snapping a 10-month winning streak. For the full quarter, the Nasdaq shed more than 7%, the S&P fell 4.6%, and the Dow dropped 3.6%. CNBC
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Sources:
Investing.com — XAG/USD Historical Data
Investing.com — XAU/USD Historical Data
LiteFinance — Gold Price Forecast & Analysis
Investing News Network — Gold Price Forecast
CNBC — Stock Market Today, March 31, 2026
