Goldman Sachs: Trump up the ante steel and aluminum tariffs triggered a surge in silver

Silver rallied strongly after the Trump administration announced that it would raise tariffs on steel and aluminium from 25% to 50%. The news raised expectations that the US government may take similar trade protection measures against other key metals such as silver, thus boosting demand for safe-haven and alternative silver. Robert Quinn, futures trader at Goldman Sachs, said that the news of the US steel and aluminium tariffs triggered significant long positions in the silver futures market. Total positions in silver futures surged by $2.80 billion, the largest two-day increase in the past year. Although the EFP (futures-to-actual price difference) is more volatile, the overall trend is higher, indicating that the market's expectations of near-term spot tightness have increased. At the same time, the rise in silver prices has pushed programmatic trend tracking funds into the long market. In addition, the options market also showed a bullish stance: three-month implied volatility soared; 25-Delta put-call skew fell back, indicating that investors are more willing to hold call options; 5 Delta and 25 Delta call options rebounded, indicating an increase in bets on extreme upside. (Golden Ten)