Tag Archives: silver news

Silver’s Average Annual Price for 2011 Was A Record High

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Although the price of Silver in 2011 ended down 9.5% on the year, the average annual silver price for 2011 of $35.12 per ounce actually set a record, a staggering 74% gain over the 2010 average annual price of $20.19 per ounce.

Michael DiRienzo, Executive Director of the Silver Institute said…

Silver’s strong price performance last year owed much to the strength in investment demand, as well as growth in industrial demand, much of which is relatively price insensitive in the short-term

Silver outperformed all precious metals in terms of increases of average annual prices: Palladium posted a 39% gain in 2011, while gold was up 28% and platinum rose 7% last year over 2010′s figures.

To underscore silver’s price strength in 2011, in a report released in November 2011, entitled The Silver Investment Market – An Update, produced by Thomson Reuters GFMS for the Silver Institute, the authors forecasted that world silver investment would reach $10 billion in 2011, comfortably exceeding the previous record of $6 billion set in 2010.

For more information on silver, or a free copy of The Silver Investment Market – An Update report, please visit SilverInstitute.org . The Silver Institute is a nonprofit international industry association headquartered in Washington, D.C. Established in 1971, the Institute serves as the industry’s voice in increasing public understanding of the value and many uses of silver.

Source: MarketWatch

Current Price of Silver Surges On Weakening Dollar

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Gold rose and silver surged by 5.9% on Tuesday reports Matt Day of Dow Jones Newswires. Many investors saw an opportunity in the rattled markets as the dollar sank and strength in global manufacturing activity pointed to a steady demand.

The most actively traded gold contract for February delivery, rose $33.70, or 2.2%, to settle at $1,600.50 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. This is the highest settlement price since Dec 23rd.

George Gero, vice president with RBC Capital Markets said…

We’re back to $1,600, and there are not many sellers around…It seems like the optimism about the euro is catching now that it’s above $1.30

Many metals traders have been looking at moves in the European common currency and using that a barometer for the financial conditions there. Relative calm in European markets and upbeat global manufacturing data helped push the euro back above the key $1.30 level on Tuesday fueling rallies in other growth sensitive assets.

Gold has frequently come under fire in recent months as investors worry about a credit freeze in the euro. The possibility of a debt crisis has convinced some money managers to sell their precious metal holdings in favor of increased liquidity.

Gold futures may have rose 10% in 2011, but gold prices pulled back sharply from the record highs of September as euro zone fears increased. Other traders with winning positions cashed out to lock in their profits or cover their losses in other assets.

Strength in manufacturing data from India and China, the world’s top two gold consumers, also supported futures on Tuesday, said Marc Ground, an analyst with Standard Bank.

Silver has far more industrial uses than gold jumped on Tuesday on hope that the global economic activity will remain stable. Silver prices for March delivery rose 5.9% to settle at $29.572 a troy ounce. Silver has continued to rebound after silver futures touched their lowest levels in 13 months last week.

Settlements (ranges include open-outcry and electronic trading):
London PM Gold Fix: $1,598.00,; previous PM $1,531.00*
Feb gold $1,600.50, up $33.70; Range $1,566.80-$1,608.70
Mar silver $29.572, up $1.657; Range $27.905-$29.730
Apr platinum $1,432.50, up $27.60; Range $1,405.60-$1,436.50
Mar palladium $663.50, up $7.35; Range $650.10-$671.25

*Fix for Dec. 29. There was no PM gold fix Dec. 30 or Jan. 2 for the New Year’s holiday.

Source: Matt Day (Dow Jones Newswires)

Silver Price Rises 2% As New Year Investors Take A Risk

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The spot price of silver rose more than 2% today as investors returned to the markets with a renewed appetite for risk. Better than expected manufacturing data from China encouraged investors despite uncertainty about the global economy.

Cash silver rose as much as 2.1% up to $28.39 an before easing back slightly to $28.20 later in the day. The metal with extensive industrial applications, lost nearly 10 percent in 2011 as worries about the global economy weakened prospects of industrial metals.

“Silver is one of the more appealling trades of the new year, after a lot of positions have been emptied out,” said a Singapore-based trader.

“Now the turn of the year has happened and we will probably see silver back on radar screens for some accounts, especially those with healthy tolerance for risk.”

Gold too rebounded from last month’s losses, although analysts say it is far from re-testing all-time highs hit last September. Spot gold gained 0.7 percent to $1,576.24 an ounce, after posting a 10-percent rise in 2011.

U.S. gold rose nearly 1 percent to $1,582, before easing to $1,578.20. Technical analysis suggested spot gold could rise to $1,629 during the day, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.

Iran’s progress in its nuclear pursuit has gripped the oil market, and could potentially support safe haven demand in gold. But for now, gold’s move hinges on the macroeconomic conditions and changes in risk appetite.

“Gold is still trading on risk appetite, rather than acting as a safe haven,” said Ong Yi Ling, an analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.

China’s official purchasing managers’ index rose to 50.3 in December from 49 in the previous month, indicating a slight expansion in business activity, sending equities and industrial metals higher in Asia.

Investors will await a raft of U.S. economic data this week, including ISM Manufacturing PMI later in the day, factory orders on Wednesday and non-farm payroll data on Friday, after recent data showed that the world’s top economy was recovering.

 Precious metals prices 0301 GMT
  Metal             Last    Change  Pct chg  YTD pct chg    Volume
  Spot Gold        1576.24   10.83   +0.69      0.80
  Spot Silver        28.20    0.40   +1.44      1.84
  Spot Platinum    1403.49    9.49   +0.68      0.75
  Spot Palladium    649.99   -0.01   -0.00      0.00
  TOCOM Gold       3887.00    4.00   +0.10      0.10        68736
  TOCOM Platinum   3462.00   47.00   +1.38      1.38        15434
  TOCOM Silver       67.20    0.80   +1.20      1.20          646
  TOCOM Palladium  1570.00   -7.00   -0.44     -0.44          373
  COMEX GOLD FEB2  1578.20   11.40   +0.73      0.73         5978
  COMEX SILVER MAR2  28.20    0.28   +1.00      0.98         1013
  Euro/Dollar       1.2978
  Dollar/Yen         76.85
  TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
  COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months

Source: Rujun Shen (Reuters)

Silver Makes First Annual Loss In 3 Years

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Silver has made its first annual loss in three years today reports the Economic Times. The price of silver had nearly doubled during 2010. But concerns over the global economy and the euro zone along with a recent slide in the price of gold has reduced demand.

But the price of silver for March delivery rose 61.1 cents to $27.91 an ounce while the U.S. dollar index was falling 0.3% to $80.17.

But the silver price was down 9.5 percent from the end of 2010, when it closed at $30.86 an ounce.

Gold also rose on Friday for the first time in 10 days as buyers took advantage of gold prices at six month lows.

Gold and silver are entering 2012 on uncertain footing. Analysts do not expect to see silver retesting it’s all time high any time soon. It’s outlook is likely to be influenced by industrial demand and the price of gold.

Precious Metals Get Hammered – Silver Price At 11 Month Low

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The price of silver dropped to an 11 month low today as many investors clambered for cash reports the Wall Street Journal . Gold dropped to it’s lowest price in nearly six months. Traders in precious metals were also riled by a sharp drop in the Euro after a period of relative calm in the currency markets.

The losses took place amongst low volumes as many traders are taking an extended Christmas break. Fear among investors has risen in anticipation that the Italian debt auction scheduled to take place on Thursday may go badly and put further pressure on the euro zone.

At the close the Euro was down from $1.306 to about $1.294.

Frank McGhee, head precious metals dealer with Integrated Brokerage Services said, “You’ve got another round of deleveraging heading into this market.” and added “I think you’re going to have a hard time finding the wherewithal with two trading days left to rally.”

There are investors who buy precious metals like Gold and Silver because they think that they will hold their value better during periods of economic uncertainty. But that belief has not always held true, especially when fears about Europe’s debt crisis have overshadowed the days trading.

You can read more about the days events at the Wall Street Journal online.