Silver Price News: Silver Down Off Highs as Gold Pulls Back

Silver prices fell on Friday, giving up the previous two days of gains, as the precious metals complex came under pressure amid signs of easing international trade tensions.

Prices slipped back to just above the $33.00 an ounce mark on Friday, down from around $33.75 in late trades on Thursday.

Signs of trade war de-escalation

There were signs towards the end of the week that the US and China could step back from their standoff on trade tariffs, which had threatened to bring a large chunk of world trade to a grinding halt, denting economic growth and driving the price of domestic goods higher.

Recent tariff exemptions on certain goods suggest both the US and Chinese leadership recognise their mutual interdependence, and may have been taken as a signal that cooler heads will ultimately prevail. Gold prices rallied to an all-time high of over $3,500 an ounce on April 22 as the markets sought safe-havens, fearing the economic fallout from the trade war.

The impact of the trade tensions on silver has been less straightforward, because while the metal naturally takes direction from gold as a precious metal, it is also vulnerable to a drop in industrial demand if the trade war slows global economic growth.

The losses for silver on Friday brought the price down from its mid-week highs, although prices were still up around 2.1% over the week as a whole.

Upcoming data

Looking ahead, Monday will bring Indian industrial and manufacturing production figures for March, providing a signal on industrial demand in one of the world’s largest silver consumers. Then on Tuesday, attention will turn to Euro Area economic sentiment figures for April, followed by the US JOLTs job openings and CB consumer confidence numbers for April, for the latest pulse-check on the US economy.