Silver prices attempted to rally on Wednesday after a more than 8 percent slump in the previous session that halted a social media-inspired buying spree that began last week. Spot silver rose 0.6 percent to USD 26.76 an ounce by 0937 GMT, having earlier risen as much as 2.1 percent.

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Prices surged to USD 30.03 on Monday, their highest since February 2013, after retail investors turned their attention to silver in a bid to replicate a rally in GameStop shares.

”The trigger for the reversal was the hike in the margins by the CME Group … it underpins that this rally was driven by short term speculators in the futures market and not by longer-term investors in the physical market,” said Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke.

”Another reason why silver struggled is that gold failed to move higher.”

Silver’s plunged of more than 8 percent on Tuesday came after CME Group raised maintenance margins on silver futures by 17.9 percent on Monday to tackle market volatility.

The retail buying spree that started last Thursday left silver dealers scrambling to find supplies for retail buyers, while one billion ounces of silver was traded in London on Monday.

”Silver prices are now finding an equilibrium that better reflects supply-demand fundamentals, with the WallStreetBets mania having simmered down,” said FXTM market analyst Han Tan.

As global economy attempts a recovery, silver can showcase a more organic and orderly run-up to the psychologically-important USD 30 mark, he added.

Holdings in iShares Silver Trust, the largest silver-backed ETF, jumped by a record 57.8 million ounces, data showed on Tuesday. Analysts expect some volatility to continue even though posts on WallStreetBets, the Reddit forum that fuelled the retail frenzy, urged traders to steer clear of silver.

Spot gold fell 0.1 percent to USD 1,836.36 per ounce. US gold futures added 0.2 percent to USD 1,836.50. Platinum was steady at USD 1,093.96 and palladium fell 0.6 percent to USD 2,229.24.