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What is Silver Futures?

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Synopsis:

Silver futures contracts are a type of derivatives that allow people to purchase or sell silver at a predetermined price on a certain date in the future. Read more..They are a good product for those who want to lock in the price of silver now so that they do not have to worry about its price fluctuations. Therefore, many industries, like jewellery, purchase silver futures. That said, there is an element of risk involved in such contracts. If someone buys them purely for speculation, then he may incur losses if the price of silver does not move in the desired direction. Read less


A silver futures contract allows people to buy or sell silver at a predetermined price on a specific date in the future. Hence, it can help traders to lock in the price of silver now, irrespective of how it changes in the future. In a silver futures contract, a buyer has to buy silver at a predetermined price on a specific future date and a seller has to sell. In other words, a buyer and a seller are obligated to fulfil the terms of their contract.

What is Silver Futures Investing? 

Market participants invest in silver futures predominantly for two reasons. First, to speculate on silver prices. Second, to hedge against price fluctuations. The concept of investing in a silver futures contract can be simplified with an example.

Suppose the current price of silver per kilogram is ₹ 1 lakh. A trader called Mr. Sharma thinks that silver’s price will move up in the next 3 months. Hence, he decides to buy a silver futures contract at ₹ 1 lakh per kg.

Mr. Sharma does not have to pay the entire amount of ₹ 1 lakh straightaway. Instead, he can pay a margin (which is a small percentage of the contract value). If the margin is 10%, he has to pay only ₹ 10,000 to enter into the contract. Assume that the price of silver increases in the next few months. Hence, before the contract expires, assume that the price of silver moves to ₹ 1.05 lakh.

As the price of silver has increased, Mr. Sharma can book a profit. His profit will be ₹ 5,000 (₹ 1.5 lakh - ₹ 1 lakh). Remember that he had paid only ₹ 10,000 margin to take a position worth ₹ 1 lakh. Hence, a futures contract helps you take leveraged positions in the market.

Demand for Silver

Many factors drive the demand for silver in India. For example, rural consumption accounts for a significant percentage of silver’s overall demand. Hence, when monsoons are good, crop yields are high, and farmers have more money, they increase the demand for silver. Conversely, when monsoons are not sufficient, crop yields are affected, thereby lowering farmers’ income and their demand for silver.

There is another factor that drives silver’s demand. When the Indian economy faces a downturn, investors tend to prefer safe avenues of investment, like silver and gold. As silver is seen as a hedge against inflation, its demand and price at times rises when inflation increases. During the times of war or any other kind of disturbance, uncertainty increases. In such a phase, people cling to valuable metals like gold and silver.

Even the US currency impacts silver prices. When the US dollar is weak, it is seen as a sign of a poor economy. Consequently, traders start investing in silver because they do not feel confident about investing in an economic activity.

Benefits of Trading in Silver Futures

There are many benefits of trading in silver futures, as explained below:

  • A silver futures contract helps you gain from the price movements of silver. Besides, you do not have to worry about taking the physical delivery of silver. Hence, you do not have to think about finding storage space for it, either.

  • Silver is considered a good hedge against other investments. For example, silver and equities generally move in an opposite direction. Hence, if equities are moving downwards, you can consider silver futures for investment.

  • A silver futures contract helps you take a leveraged position. In other words, you can take a large position by paying a tiny percentage of it as a margin. However, while a leveraged position can increase your profit, it can also magnify your losses.

Importance of Silver Futures

Silver futures contracts help individuals and businesses manage risks that can be caused by price fluctuations. Let us take the case of a jeweller who needs silver but does not want his business to get affected by its price fluctuations. The jeweller knows how much silver he will need in the next six months. Hence, he can buy a silver futures contract to lock in the price now. By doing this, he avoids the risk of paying a higher than current price when he will actually need silver in the future.

Silver futures contracts also help speculators make money by taking positions based on their price expectations. If they expect the price of silver to move up, they can buy a silver futures contract. That said, only those traders who have a deep understanding of silver futures should consider speculating because it can be inherently risky.

How to Trade Silver Futures

If you want to trade silver futures, you should contact a broker, who is a member of a commodity exchange. Before trading in such contracts, you will have to pay an initial margin to the broker, which is a percentage of the value of a silver futures contract. Typically, the value of the margin is much lower than that of a position. In India, commodity derivatives like silver futures contracts are traded on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) and the National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX).

Advantages of Trading in Silver Futures

There are several advantages of trading in silver futures. First, such contracts help you lock in a price for silver now. Hence, you do not have to worry about price fluctuations in the future. Moreover, silver futures contracts tend to have sufficient liquidity, which means the likelihood of finding a counterparty is high.

Second, silver futures also help you book a profit if the price of silver moves in the direction you desire. Let us say that you buy a silver futures contract at a certain price. However, in the next few weeks before the contract’s expiration, the price of silver is higher than your contract’s price. In such a case, you can book a profit.

Risks Associated with Silver Futures

While silver futures offer benefits, there are also risks involved in them. As already explained, such contracts help you take a leveraged position, which can magnify your profits but can also increase your losses.

Suppose you buy a silver futures contract, which requires you to purchase silver at ₹ 90,000 per kg three months from now and you pay ₹ 9,000 margin for it. However, on the expiration date, the price of silver per kg is ₹ 80,000. In this case, you will make a loss of ₹ 10,000 (90,000 – 80,000) on a margin of ₹ 9,000, which is a 111.1% loss. This is a staggering amount of loss. Hence, you need to be careful. Therefore, only experienced investors should consider trading in silver futures.

Then, traders also face the timing risk when dealing in such contracts. Remember that silver futures have a certain expiration date. Hence, it is possible that a trader’s price expectations do not align with market conditions by the time his contract expires. In such a case, it will be difficult for him to earn a profit on the futures contract.

Conclusion

There is no denying that silver futures offer a number of benefits. The best part of such contracts is that they can help you lock in a price of silver now so that you do not have to worry about price fluctuations in the future. Hence, such futures contracts are of great use to industries with a considerable silver demand. But, when it comes to speculators, silver futures can be as risky as any other commodity futures. The value of silver futures can fluctuate based on its price movements. Hence, silver futures are advisable for only those speculators who have a profound understanding of silver as an asset.

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Disclaimer: Investments in the securities market are subject to market risk, read all related documents carefully before investing.

This content is for educational purposes only. Securities quoted are exemplary and not recommendatory.

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