Silver prices put in a strong day on Thursday, building on recent gains to strike a fresh two-month high.
Prices have gained ground for the last seven days, and touched a high of $24.52 an ounce on Thursday – the highest price since late December 2023. That compared with around $24.20 an ounce in late deals on Wednesday.
US initial jobless claims figures were released Thursday showing a slightly higher than expected 217,000 in the week ending March 2nd. The latest figures come against a backdrop of comments by US Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday who indicated that interest rates have likely peaked, strengthening expectations that the central bank could begin cutting rates in the next few months.
A looser monetary policy stance is bullish for precious metals prices as it reduces the opportunity cost of holding non-interest-bearing assets.
Silver prices have also taken a lift from gold prices, which hit fresh all-time highs on Thursday of well over $2,160 an ounce.
The US dollar has also been on a slide against other major currencies since mid-February, boosting the price of dollar-denominated assets such as gold and silver. At the same time, US 10-year Treasury yields have also come under downward pressure since late February, supporting precious metals prices.
Looking ahead, Friday will see a flurry of data releases, including Euro Area GDP growth rates for Q4 2023, US non-farm payrolls figures for February and comments from US Fed officials, all of which will feed into the evolving macroeconomic picture and outlook for interest rates going forward.
Frank’s experience covering the commodities markets spans 22 years, with a particular specialism in metals, carbon and energy markets. He has worked as a senior editor for S&P Global Commodity Insights (formerly Platts) and before this, at ICIS-LOR, a part of Reed Business Information (Reed Elsevier), where he covered the petrochemicals markets from 2003 to 2005.
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