Silver approaching bull market as prices rally to 10-month high

20/04/2016 05:31 AST

Silver climbed to a 10-month high, leading gains in precious metals, as the oil market stabilised and top forecasters said gold will extend this year’s advance.

Silver jumped as much as 3.2 per cent to $16.7398 an ounce, reaching the highest since June. A close at the current level would mark the beginning of a bull market.

Trading volume for silver in New York was triple the average for this time of day. The gains were amplified by big orders placed amid light trading, which triggered automated short-covering, according to Afshin Nabavi, head of trading and physical sales at MKS (Switzerland) SA.

Silver, which has more industrial uses than gold, has risen more than 20 per cent this year and is the top asset in the Bloomberg Commodity Index. Markets globally advanced, with European stocks reaching a three-month high and oil recovering to $40 a barrel after a selloff on Monday.

“We’ve seen some good fund buying that triggered stops through the recent highs in silver, which eventually spilt over into gold as the move gained momentum,” said David Govett, head of precious metals at broker Marex Spectron Group in London by email. “Will silver continue to outperform gold? If stock markets stay firm or move up then yes, if they slump, then no.” Gold for immediate delivery added 0.8 per cent to $1,242.49 an ounce as of 10.01am in London. Silver increased 2.6 per cent to $16.6395.

Gold bulls
Capital Economics Ltd and Cantor Fitzgerald LP are bullish on gold as real interest rates will probably stay low even if the Federal Reserve raises borrowing costs in response to higher inflation. Bullion may surge to $1,350 an ounce by the year-end, says Simona Gambarini, an economist at Capital Economics in London. The metal will continue to climb, though at a slower pace, says Rob Chang at Cantor Fitzgerald in Toronto.

China started a daily price fixing on Tuesday in an attempt to establish a regional benchmark and bolster its influence in the global market. The Shanghai Gold Exchange set the price at 256.92 yuan a gram ($1,233.85 an ounce) at the 10.30am session after members of the exchange submitted buy and sell orders for metal of 99.99 per cent purity.

The gold-silver ratio, which measures the price of one divided by the other, fell to the lowest level this year.

Gulfnews