Silver Price News: Silver Hits 12-Year High as Gold Leads the Way

Silver prices surged on Friday, capping a bullish week for the precious metal, as gold pushed into new territory on the upside.

Silver prices rallied as high as $34.11 an ounce on Friday – the highest price since October 2012 – before easing slightly to $33.74 later in the session. That compared with around $31.80 an ounce in late trades on Thursday.

Silver’s surge at the end of the week followed a rather lacklustre few days, with the metal trading sideways from Monday to Thursday, showing little impetus to move in either direction.

Silver plays catch-up with gold

The grey metal appeared to show a delayed reaction on Friday to gold’s surge to an all-time high on Thursday, with both precious metals taking support from falling interest rates and safe haven demand. The ECB’s 25-basis point cut to interest rates on Thursday came as inflation in the Eurozone fell below the 2% target in September.

Supportive backdrop for silver

Silver prices also took support from ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and Ukraine, and uncertainty ahead of the November 5 US elections, with recent polls suggesting a tight race between Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.

Russia’s central bank set to acquire silver

Elsewhere, Russia’s draft federal budget for the coming year includes plans for the country’s central bank to acquire silver for part of its reserves for the first time, according to recent news reports. The move could represent additional demand for the metal, contributing to stronger prices in the coming months, particularly if it becomes a wider trend among other central banks.

Silver technical analysis

On the technical charts, silver’s surge on Friday shows that the precious metal has not only broken through horizontal resistance at $32.55 an ounce, linked to recent price peaks in May, but also the upper boundary of a two-month rising trend channel at $33.47 an ounce. There is little to stop silver’s upward march if gold continues to set new highs, but any downside from here would likely mean recent resistance at $32.55 an ounce could be viewed as a new support level.

Events to keep an eye on

Monday will see speeches by several US Fed officials, while Tuesday will see a speech by ECB President Christine Lagarde, both of which may be of interest for gauging the path forward for interest rates as central banks seek to reduce the cost of borrowing.