Since the beginning of the year, precious metals have continued to rise, but suddenly came to a sharp halt at the end of the year. Gold, silver, platinum, and palladium all experienced sharp declines, and market sentiment quickly cooled from euphoria. Is this a short-term fluctuation or a major trend reversal? This question has now become the most concerned issue in the market.

According to TradingView data, gold rapidly plunged from a historical high of nearly $4,500 per ounce. It briefly dipped to $4,332.53, a single-day drop of about 4.39%. It sounds fierce, but don’t forget, gold’s total annual increase still reached 65% to 72%—the strongest yearly performance since 1979. So even with this correction, the annual performance remains quite impressive.

The correction in silver was even more intense. After reaching a new historical high of $83.62 to $84 per ounce, it turned around and crashed down, with the lowest point returning to the $71.90 to $73.71 range. The single-day decline reached 7.9% to 9.11%—much sharper than gold’s decline. Although this rapid drop caught some off guard, looking at a longer cycle, silver also recorded a solid full-year increase.

Interestingly, the precious metals market has recently exhibited many "cryptocurrency-like" characteristics—volatility soaring, and price behavior increasingly resembling familiar digital assets. Silver is especially obvious, having become a new safe haven tool for many investors. The end-of-year sharp decline not only tests technical support but also market participants’ confidence in the subsequent trend. How large is the correction space, and when can it stabilize? These are worth continued observation.