Silver Price News: Silver Falls To 11-Week Low On Tepid Manufacturing Data

Silver prices fell sharply on Thursday after a surprise drop in manufacturing in several countries, and moving in line with weaker gold prices which fell to a two-week low.

Silver prices fell as low as $27.48 an ounce on Thursday, compared with around $28.90 an ounce in late trades on Wednesday. The losses of over 3.5% pushed silver to its lowest price since May 9.

Figures released Wednesday revealed that manufacturing activity showed a surprise decline across several economies in July, including Japan, the Euro Area countries and the US. Any slowdown in manufacturing sends a clear bearish signal for industrial demand for silver, which finds a broad range of uses across electronics, clean energy, health and medicine, aerospace and water purification, to name just a few.

Sentiment took a further hit on Thursday after US durable goods orders fell by 6.6% in June, against expectations of a 0.3% rise.

On the price charts, $29.00 an ounce had been an apparent support area for silver twice in June, and the clear breach below this level on Thursday will re-focus attention on a downward-sloping trend channel that emerged since the highs of over $32.00 an ounce seen in late May.

Looking ahead, the markets will be watching out for the US core PCE price index figures for June on Friday, followed by the Michigan consumer sentiment numbers for July, for an update on the US economy.