Silver on 11-month high, lifting gold, platinum

Silver on 11-month high, lifting gold, platinum

Silver shot up to its highest in 11 months on Wednesday, lifting gold and platinum.

The Dollar Business Bureau

Silver shot up to its highest in 11 months on Wednesday, leading gold for a gain in the second session and taking platinum to a new 6-month high. The white metal rallied due to a weaker dollar with a positive trend seen in the Chinese economy.

Currently, silver has been on an upswing. It increased 22% this year, making it one of the lucrative investments of 2016. The increase has outshone gold with a gain of 18% this year.

Spot silver jumped to $17.21 per ounce, the highest since May 2015, subsequent to a 4.4% rise on Tuesday. Platinum, after rallying about 4% in the previous session, reached a 6-month high of $1,019.90. Palladium reached $588.05, a new high in one-month.

Silver and platinum group metals, which are mostly in demand by the industry than gold, are gaining on the latest positive data from China – a key consumer, where a flood of fresh debt seems to be leading to the recovery in manufacturing activity, investments and household expenditure.

The most traded white metal contract surged for a 10th session out of 11, rallying about 3 percent on Wednesday, reaching a 6-month high on the Shanghai Gold Exchange.

Gold had increased 0.2 percent to $1,253.10 per ounce on Wednesday, a 1.5 percent rise in the previous session. Silver’s wider range of uses in manufacturing also factors global supply and demand, so silver can sometimes see a more upward swing than gold.

Silver futures for delivery in May rallied 4.4 percent in New York to $16.972 per ounce on Tuesday, a 20 percent increase from the recent low in December. Gold for delivery in June gained 1.4 percent, whereas copper rose a second day to a three-week high on the London Metal Exchange. 

The Dollar Business Bureau - Apr 20, 2016 12:00 IST