Silver starts the week a touch below $23.4 per ounce, with some profit-taking after hours on a big Friday uptick. Still, silver gained more than 3.7% on the week to a one-month high.
The most recent (17 October) CFTC Commitment of Traders report published late on Friday revealed that both retail and professional speculators have added a little to net long silver futures positions. However, positioning overall remains quite light, with large speculators thus far failing to engage to the same degree as recently as late August/early September. Silver funds have continued to show net outflows since July.
Like gold, the markets’ ongoing assessment of the risk environment will be the driver of silver pricing going forward. The economic data releases highlighted in today’s gold commentary are also pertinent, particularly inasmuch as both are zero-yielding assets facing interest rate headwinds.
However, silver is significantly exposed to industrial applications and economic growth prospects, so the following releases should also be on the silver traders’ radar:
Tuesday: German GfK Consumer Confidence for November, German Flash Manufacturing PMI and UK Unemployment rate for August. All data is expected to remain soft.
Wednesday: UK and Eurozone Flash Manufacturing and Services PMIs for October which are expected to firm, but remain contractionary. German IFO Business survey for August where further deterioration is expected.
Thursday: US Durable Goods Orders for September and US Q3 GDP, are both expected to show a rebound.
Friday: US Personal Income and US Personal Spending for September, which are expected to show robust spending, despite slowing income growth.
Carlo is an external market analyst for Kinesis Money. With a credential background in Economic Finance and International Exchange (MA), Carlo’s critical analysis of gold and silver markets’ performance is frequently quoted by leading publications such as Forbes, Reuters, CNBC, and Nasdaq.
This publication is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a solicitation, offering or recommendation of any security, commodity, derivative, investment management service or advisory service and is not commodity trading advice. This publication does not intend to provide investment, tax or legal advice on either a general or specific basis.
Read our Editorial Guidelines here.
