CME Group, the world’s leading derivatives marketplace, announced that its metals complex reached a new single-day record of 3,338,528 contracts on January 26, up 18% from the previous daily record of 2,829,666 contracts on Friday, October 17, 2025.

“Amid ongoing macro-economic uncertainty, record volatility and heightened price risk, clients are turning to our markets to hedge and adjust precious metals exposure to meet their trading goals,” said Jin Hennig, Managing Director and Global Head of Metals at CME Group. “Our expanding range of precious metal contracts provide clients of all sizes efficient access to right-sized risk management tools.”

Growing demand for CME Group’s precious metals contracts drove the record trading day, with Micro Silver futures trading a daily record volume of 715,111 contracts and record open interest of 35,702 contracts. It was also a top five trading day for Silver futures, Micro Gold futures and 1-Ounce Gold futures.

CME Group recently announced that it will launch 100-Ounce Silver futures to meet record retail demand on February 9, 2026, pending regulatory review.

CME Group’s metals complex is listed on and subject to the rules of COMEX. For more information, please visit www.cmegroup.com/metals

Commentary on macro-drivers from CME Group Chief Economist, Erik Norland

Norland’s latest research looks at the debate on inflation implied by pricing dynamics in the precious metals and bond markets, in a paper.

Chart: Implied volatility for gold and silver reach multi-year highs 

Expectations for price changes in our gold options markets are at their highest level since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. They’re also highly elevated for silver. 

CVOL is a suite of indexes that measures implied volatility across major asset classes. Full data available on request.

Source: CME