Silver prices held their ground on Friday to cap a bullish week for the precious metal as the market got a boost from all-time highs for gold prices.
Silver held steady at around $24.34 an ounce in late deals Friday – little changed from Thursday’s levels. Prices did briefly spike as high as $25.25 an ounce during the day, although this did not appear to carry much volume and prices at these levels could not be sustained.
Gold stole the limelight through the week as prices notched up successive all-time highs, culminating in values as high as $2,195 an ounce on Friday. Silver certainly rode the wave higher in recent days, and both metals benefited from a drop in the value of the US dollar against other major currencies through the week.
The major underlying catalyst for the strength in precious metals has been a rise in bets on a US interest rate cut happening within the first half of the year – an outcome that has begun to look more probable as several data releases in recent days showed the US economy looking weaker than expected, suggesting the need for more accommodative monetary policy.
Looking ahead, Tuesday’s monthly US inflation figures will be closely watched for signs that interest rate cuts could soon materialise, while Thursday will see US producer prices and retail sales figures for a further pulse check on the health of the economy.
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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