XAG/USD in one paragraph
XAG/USD is the ticker symbol for silver priced in US dollars. XAG is the ISO 4217 code for one troy ounce of silver, and USD is the United States dollar. The price (for example, 25.00) is how many US dollars one troy ounce of silver costs at that moment. Roughly 50% of annual silver demand is industrial (solar panels, electronics, EVs) and the rest is monetary, which makes silver track gold directionally but with 1.5 to 2 times the daily volatility.
Two metals in one ticker
Silver has a split personality, and the XAG/USD chart shows both sides at the same time. On one axis it is a monetary metal: traded alongside gold for over two thousand years, held by sovereign mints, and quoted against fiat currencies in the spot bullion market. On the other axis it is an industrial input: roughly 50% of annual demand goes into solar photovoltaic cells, electronics, electrical contacts, brazing alloys, and EV components. No other widely traded asset blends those two demand profiles in roughly equal measure.
This dual identity is the reason silver trades the way it does. When the macro story is dominant (real yields fall, dollar weakens, central banks buy reserves) silver follows gold higher and the gold-silver ratio compresses. When the industrial story is dominant (Chinese solar capacity expansion, EV production ramp, manufacturing PMIs surprising up) silver can move on its own and decouple from gold for weeks. Most multi-week silver trades are either a bet on which story wins, or a bet on the ratio mean-reverting back toward its long-run band of 50 to 80.
XAG itself follows the same ISO 4217 convention as XAU. The leading X marks it as a non-national code, and AG is the chemical symbol for silver from the Latin argentum. On MT5 the symbol appears as XAGUSD, listed alongside XAUUSD, EURUSD and the major FX pairs because the spot bullion market quotes both metals against fiat currencies the same way it quotes any cross.
Quick fact. The global silver market is roughly one-tenth the total value of the gold market, and most silver supply (around 70% of new mine production) is a byproduct of zinc, lead and copper mining. That means silver supply is only weakly responsive to silver prices, which contributes to silver's tendency to overshoot in both directions.
How XAG/USD pricing works
The XAG/USD quote is the number of US dollars per one troy ounce of silver. One troy ounce equals 31.1034768 grams. Silver is priced to three decimal places on most retail platforms (25.123 rather than 25.12), reflecting the smaller absolute price and the need for finer ticks.
If XAG/USD is quoted at 25.000, one troy ounce of silver costs 25 US dollars. If the quote moves to 25.100, silver has risen by ten cents per ounce. The smallest tick is typically 0.001 (one tenth of a US cent per ounce), although some venues quote to two decimals only.
On MT5 at LHFX, the contract size for XAGUSD is 5,000 troy ounces per standard lot. That is a much larger ounce-count than gold's 100-ounce lot, but because silver trades at a small fraction of gold's dollar price, the notional value of one silver lot is far smaller. At a price of 25.00, one full lot of XAGUSD is 5,000 x $25 = $125,000 of notional exposure. A 0.01 micro lot is 50 troy ounces, with notional of roughly $1,250.
Pip definitions vary by broker. On most MT5 servers including LHFX, a one-pip move on XAGUSD is a 0.01 change in the price (for example, 25.000 to 25.010 is one pip). On 5,000 ounces that is $50 of profit or loss per pip on a standard lot, or $0.50 per pip on a 0.01 micro lot. Always confirm the pip definition in your MT5 symbol specifications before sizing positions.
Worked example
You buy 0.10 lots of XAGUSD at 25.000 (500 troy ounces, notional roughly $12,500). Silver rises to 26.000, a $1.00 move per ounce. Your profit is 500 ounces x $1.00 = $500. The same $1.00 move against you would cost $500. Margin required at 1:200 leverage is roughly $62 (0.5% of notional). That is why position sizing matters more on silver than on most pairs: a 4% adverse move on a fully leveraged position can wipe out the margin.
What drives the XAG/USD price
Silver is pulled by two different gravitational fields at the same time. Monetary drivers move silver alongside gold; industrial drivers move silver against base metals like copper. The mix determines whether the gold-silver ratio expands or contracts, and that ratio is itself a tactical input for medium-term silver positioning.
Gold direction (with 1.5 to 2x beta)
Silver follows gold directionally but with higher amplitude. A 1% move in gold typically produces a 1.5 to 2% move in silver the same way. When gold is breaking out, silver tends to break out harder. When gold is selling off, silver tends to sell off harder. Watch the gold tape before forming a silver view: most days, gold leads and silver follows with a slight lag.
Solar, electronics, and EV demand
Roughly 50% of annual silver demand is industrial, and the fastest-growing slice is solar photovoltaics. Global solar capacity installed in 2023 was around 400 gigawatts, each gigawatt consuming roughly 20 tonnes of silver. EV production also lifts demand because each electric vehicle uses 25 to 50 grams of silver in switches, contacts and battery management. Chinese manufacturing PMIs, global solar installation data, and EV production statistics are real-time inputs.
The gold-silver ratio (XAU divided by XAG)
Dividing gold by silver gives you the gold-silver ratio: how many ounces of silver one ounce of gold buys. The ratio has oscillated historically between roughly 30 and 100, with a long-run band of 50 to 80. When the ratio prints above 80, silver is cheap relative to gold and historically mean-reverts; when it prints below 50, silver is rich relative to gold. The ratio expands when gold leads, contracts when silver leads.
US real interest rates (inverse)
Like gold, silver pays no yield, so it competes with US Treasuries. Falling US real yields (the 10-year TIPS yield is a clean proxy) lower the opportunity cost of holding silver and tend to support the price. Rising real yields weigh on silver, often more sharply than on gold because silver lacks the central-bank reserve bid that cushions gold during real-rate spikes.
Mine supply concentration
Annual silver mine supply is roughly 25,000 tonnes, with Mexico, Peru, China, Russia and Poland the largest producers. Mexico alone accounts for about a quarter of global output. Strike actions at major Peruvian or Mexican mines, regulatory shifts in China, and concentrate-export disruptions can move silver sharply outside the normal gold-correlation regime. Around 70% of new silver comes as a byproduct of zinc, lead and copper mining, so base-metal cycles also feed in.
ETF and futures positioning
iShares Silver Trust (SLV) is the largest physically-backed silver ETF, holding roughly 14,000 tonnes at recent reporting. Daily holdings are published. Persistent SLV accumulation tightens the physical market; persistent outflows are a headwind. COMEX silver futures positioning (Commitment of Traders report, published weekly) is also watched: extreme managed-money net long or net short positions often precede sharp reversals.
Short-squeeze episodes
Silver has a history of brief, sharp upside spikes driven by coordinated retail or commodity-pool positioning. The 2021 "silver squeeze" attempt pushed XAG/USD up roughly 15% in two days before reversing. The 1979 to 1980 Hunt brothers episode took silver from $6 to over $50 before collapsing. These events are rare but produce vertical price action that ignores normal correlation regimes.
When does XAG/USD trade?
Silver trades close to 23 hours a day, five days a week. The market opens Sunday around 5:00 PM ET (10:00 PM London) and closes Friday around 5:00 PM ET, with a short daily settlement break around 5:00 PM ET. Liquidity and volatility shift across sessions, and silver tends to gap more than gold on Sunday open after Asia-region news.
Most retail XAG/USD volume happens during the London and New York sessions, with the heaviest activity in the overlap window. Silver liquidity is consistently thinner than gold liquidity at any given moment, which is why silver spreads are wider and why single news events produce sharper short-term moves.
Roughly 6:00 PM to 3:00 AM ET. Quieter, narrower ranges. Watch for moves on Chinese solar policy announcements, PBoC statements, and Indian physical demand prints.
Roughly 3:00 AM to 8:00 AM ET. Liquidity ramps up. The London silver fixing (12:00 PM London) is the reference price for physical silver settlement and is published daily.
Roughly 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM ET. The most liquid and most volatile window. Major US data (CPI, NFP, PCE) prints at 8:30 AM ET, and silver typically over-reacts to dollar and rates moves relative to gold.
Roughly 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM ET. FOMC announcements land at 2:00 PM ET. Silver routinely produces 2 to 4% intraday moves on FOMC days, with the press conference 30 minutes later often producing a second leg in either direction.
XAG/USD CFD vs silver futures vs silver ETF
You can take a view on the silver price three main ways: a CFD on spot silver (XAG/USD), a futures contract (such as COMEX SI), or a silver ETF (such as SLV or PSLV). They look similar on a chart but trade very differently in size, expiry, and cost.
| Product | Expiry | Smallest size | Access | Cost structure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| XAG/USD CFD (LHFX MT5) | None (spot, perpetual) | 0.01 lot (50 troy oz) | Any broker offering CFDs | Spread + commission + overnight swap |
| COMEX silver futures (SI) | Monthly, must roll | 1 contract = 5,000 oz (mini = 1,000 oz) | CME-enabled futures broker | Exchange fees + commission + roll cost |
| Silver ETF (SLV, PSLV) | None (equity wrapper) | 1 share | Any stock broker | Bid-ask + management fee 0.30 to 0.50% annual |
For active trading with leverage, the XAG/USD CFD is the most flexible choice: no expiry to roll, fractional sizing down to 50 ounces, and 23-hour access. COMEX SI futures suit larger institutional size and capital-efficient positioning above roughly $125,000 of notional. SLV and PSLV suit buy-and-hold investors who want long-only equity-account exposure without leverage or overnight swap.
Trading XAG/USD at LHFX
LHFX offers XAG/USD on MT5 with STP/ECN execution and no dealing desk. The specifications are visible inside MT5 under Market Watch, Symbols, XAGUSD.
Up to 1:200 on XAG/USD. Given silver's 1.5 to 2x gold volatility, most experienced traders run effective leverage in the 1:20 to 1:50 range rather than at the cap.
$3 per side ($6 round-trip) on the Standard account, applied per standard lot of 5,000 ounces.
MetaTrader 5 on Windows, Mac, web, iOS, and Android. LHFX is a direct MetaQuotes licensee.
STP/ECN. Orders route to aggregated bank and non-bank liquidity, not an in-house dealing desk.
Sunday 5:00 PM ET to Friday 5:00 PM ET, with a short daily break around 5:00 PM ET.
For the full instrument page including current spread snapshots and contract specifications, see the XAG/USD instrument page. For commission and spread details across all instruments, see spreads and fees, and for the full leverage policy by instrument see leverage.
Risks of trading XAG/USD
Silver is liquid and widely traded, but it is one of the more volatile spot instruments on the platform. The combination of 1.5 to 2x gold volatility, thinner liquidity than gold, and high available leverage means that losses on silver compound faster than on most pairs.
Daily volatility 1.5 to 2x gold
Typical daily ranges on XAG/USD are 2 to 4% of price, against 1 to 2% on gold. On FOMC days, US CPI releases, and industrial-cycle inflection points, 5% or larger daily moves are routine. A 5% adverse move on a fully leveraged position at 1:200 wipes out ten times the deposited margin on that trade.
Short-squeeze tail risk
Silver is historically vulnerable to coordinated short-squeeze events. The 2021 retail-driven episode produced a 15% rally in two days; the 1979 to 1980 Hunt brothers episode took silver from $6 to over $50 before collapsing back. Short silver positions can be whipsawed by sentiment-driven moves that ignore gold and macro fundamentals. Never add to a silver short during a squeeze episode.
Leverage amplifies both sides
1:200 leverage on XAG/USD means a 0.5% move can wipe out your margin on that position. Given silver routinely moves 2 to 4% in a single session, sizing at the leverage cap is effectively a coin flip on whether the position survives the day. Size to your account, not to the leverage cap.
Gold-silver ratio mean-reversion can stay extended
Trades sized on the assumption that the gold-silver ratio will mean-revert from 80 back toward 50 can stay losing for many months. The ratio touched 125 briefly in March 2020 and did not break back below 80 for over a year. Position the ratio trade as a multi-month thesis with appropriately small sizing, not as a tactical fade.
Risk disclosure: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. The vast majority of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. Never trade with money you cannot afford to lose.