Silver Price Forecast: XAG/USD sheds 1%, yet is poised for weekly gains
- XAG/USD drops over 1% to $31.60 after reaching a yearly high of $32.71 earlier in the week.
- Failure to close above $31.75 could see Silver trading between $31.00 and $31.70, with potential for further weakness.
- A break above $32.00 may lead to retesting the YTD high of $32.71, with $33.00 as the next key resistance level.
Silver prices dropped on Friday, finishing the session down by more than 1% after hitting a yearly record high of $32.71 on September 26. Buyers' failure to cling to gains above $32.00 exacerbated the drop toward $31.60, but they held to weekly profits of over 1.50%.
XAG/USD Price Forecast: Technical outlook
Silver is upward biased amid dipping to a four-day low of $31.37, but a daily close below the July 13 peak of $31.75 opens the scope to trade within the $31.00-$31.70 range.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) remains bullish, but in the short term, sellers could push prices toward the September 23 low of $30.36. On further weakness, the next stop would be the 50-day moving average (DMA) at $29.64.
Conversely, if XAG/USD climbs back above $32.00, this could pave the way to test the YTD high of $32.71 before challenging $33.00 ahead of the October 1, 2012, peak at $35340.
XAG/USD Price Action – Daily Chart
Silver FAQs
Silver is a precious metal highly traded among investors. It has been historically used as a store of value and a medium of exchange. Although less popular than Gold, traders may turn to Silver to diversify their investment portfolio, for its intrinsic value or as a potential hedge during high-inflation periods. Investors can buy physical Silver, in coins or in bars, or trade it through vehicles such as Exchange Traded Funds, which track its price on international markets.
Silver prices can move due to a wide range of factors. Geopolitical instability or fears of a deep recession can make Silver price escalate due to its safe-haven status, although to a lesser extent than Gold's. As a yieldless asset, Silver tends to rise with lower interest rates. Its moves also depend on how the US Dollar (USD) behaves as the asset is priced in dollars (XAG/USD). A strong Dollar tends to keep the price of Silver at bay, whereas a weaker Dollar is likely to propel prices up. Other factors such as investment demand, mining supply – Silver is much more abundant than Gold – and recycling rates can also affect prices.
Silver is widely used in industry, particularly in sectors such as electronics or solar energy, as it has one of the highest electric conductivity of all metals – more than Copper and Gold. A surge in demand can increase prices, while a decline tends to lower them. Dynamics in the US, Chinese and Indian economies can also contribute to price swings: for the US and particularly China, their big industrial sectors use Silver in various processes; in India, consumers’ demand for the precious metal for jewellery also plays a key role in setting prices.
Silver prices tend to follow Gold's moves. When Gold prices rise, Silver typically follows suit, as their status as safe-haven assets is similar. The Gold/Silver ratio, which shows the number of ounces of Silver needed to equal the value of one ounce of Gold, may help to determine the relative valuation between both metals. Some investors may consider a high ratio as an indicator that Silver is undervalued, or Gold is overvalued. On the contrary, a low ratio might suggest that Gold is undervalued relative to Silver.
Author
Christian Borjon Valencia
FXStreet
Markets analyst, news editor, and trading instructor with over 14 years of experience across FX, commodities, US equity indices, and global macro markets.
