Silver prices pulled back on Tuesday from recent highs above $29.00 an ounce, after US figures showed stronger than expected retail sales in March.
Prices touched a low of $27.99 an ounce on Tuesday before regaining some ground to trade at around $28.40 an ounce by late afternoon. That compared with around $28.95 an ounce in late trades on Monday.
Silver touched a high of over $29.50 an ounce on Friday, but the market has since taken a more cautious stance. Silver’s price action took a lead from gold prices, which were more stable on Tuesday as the markets took a breather after recent all-time highs.
US figures released Monday showed that retail sales were higher than expected in March, and this prompted a rise in treasury yields as well as a dialling back of expectations on the number of interest rate cuts by the US Fed this year. The markets had been expecting three cuts in 2024 but now appear to expect only two, with ongoing uncertainty over when the first of those will materialise.
Taken together, the latest macroeconomic figures prompted a halt to the recent rally for gold and silver, leaving prices range bound on Tuesday.
Looking ahead, inflation figures are due out for the UK on Wednesday, and Japan on Thursday, providing further potential clues on interest rate trajectories.
However, geopolitical tensions continue to drive investment flows into safe-haven assets like gold and silver, and the markets will be keeping one eye on news headlines, given the heightened risk of a flare-up in hostilities in the Middle-East.
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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