These Factors Have Been Driving Silver Prices

Silver has performed slightly better than gold and platinum on a year-to-date basis.

Meera Shawn - Author
By

Mar. 23 2017, Published 4:42 p.m. ET

uploads///Silver Performace since

Silver’s performance

Compared to gold, silver is the more volatile precious metal. The overall sentiment in the market for silver is positive, as it recently crossed the 50-day, 100-day, and 200-day moving averages.

Silver has performed slightly better than gold and platinum on a year-to-date basis. Silver had a year-to-date gain of 8.8%, while gold and platinum have risen 7% and 7.4%, respectively, as of March 20. Palladium, however, has outperformed the other three metals with a rise of 14.7% during the same timeframe.

Precious and industrial metals

The fluctuations in the price of silver since 2015 are shown in the above chart. As silver is considered both an industrial as well as a precious metal, the rises and falls in its price are dependent on many global indicators.

When Brexit concerns surfaced in mid-2016, the haven bids caused silver to rise. Similarly, after Trump won the US election, the haven bids impacted the metal. The increase in the interest rate on Treasuries caused non-yield-bearing assets like gold and silver to suffer. In a similar fashion, the overall industrial market performance can also impact silver, as silver is frequently used as an industrial metal.

Silver funds and miners

The fluctuations in silver prices are evident in the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) and the Silver Trust ETF (SIVR). These two funds have risen 9.2% each due to the rise in silver prices.

Silver mining stocks like Hecla Mining (HL), Coeur Mining (CDE), Pan American Silver (PAAS), and Silver Wheaton (SLW) have fallen over the past month due to the fall in silver prices.

Later in this series, we’ll look at the performance of silver miners along with technical details.

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