Silver has dropped below the $17.00 level, as optimism over the U.S.-China trade talks have boosted risk appetite.
Silver continues to lose ground in Friday trade, after sustaining sharp losses on Thursday. In the European session, the metal is trading at $16.97, down $0.13 or 0.81% on the day.
Silver fell by almost 3.0% on Thursday, marking the sharpest one-day decline since September 30. The pair dropped below the 17.00 level for the first time since October 1, and the metal is currently trading at 16.98.
Silver has plunged 6.2% this week, as the metal is headed towards its worst week since October 2016. Precious metals are sharply lower, as investor risk appetite has climbed, sending equity markets higher. The catalyst for the optimism is renewed expectations that the U.S. and China are close to reaching an interim trade deal, known as “Phase 1”. This would allow the two countries to reach a limited trade agreement, while leaving the most intractable issues for another round of negotiations. On Wednesday, the Chinese commerce ministry announced that the two countries would phase out the trade war tariffs, but it did not provide a timetable for such a move. A new trade deal could significantly boost global trade, which has been damaged by the bitter trade war. If there are further signs that a deal is near, traders can expect silver prices to continue to head lower.
Kenny is an experienced market analyst, with a focus on fundamental analysis. Kenny has over 15 years of experience across a broad range of markets and assets –forex, indices and commodities.