Silver Price News: Silver Holds Up on ECB Rate Cuts

Silver prices were little changed on Thursday, albeit with prices coming off the previous day’s intraday highs.

Silver traded in a range of $31.35 to $32.06 an ounce on Thursday, compared with Wednesday’s range of $31.47 to $32.25 an ounce.

The grey metal failed to show any convincing movement in either direction, seemingly ignoring fresh all-time highs for gold prices on Thursday.

ECB rate cut provides support

Silver held broadly steady, supported by the European Central Bank’s decision on Thursday to cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 3.4%, in line with market expectations.

Markets weigh mixed US data

Meanwhile, the markets were left to digest a mixed set of data on the US economy on Thursday. Initial jobless claims figures came in below market expectations for the week ending October 12, suggesting a stronger than expected labour market, while US industrial production fell by 0.3% in September, worse than the market’s expected 0.2% drop.

Geopolitical tensions support precious metals

Gold and silver prices continued to take support from a heightened geopolitical risk environment, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was quoted as saying Russia is set to deploy North Korean troops in Ukraine, while Israel said it had killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Rafah, southern Gaza.

Silver technical analysis

Silver appeared to take some support after briefly moving below the 20-day simple moving average, currently pegged at $31.49 an ounce, with oblique major support seen at $30.34 an ounce. On the upside, oblique minor resistance is seen at $32.66 an ounce, while horizontal resistance is seen at $32.55 an ounce.

Upcoming economic data to watch

The immediate outlook is limited for key macroeconomic data releases, although Friday and Monday will see speeches by several US Fed officials, which may provide further signals on upcoming interest rate decisions at the central bank’s meeting on November 7.