Silver Readies For Biggest Monthly Gain In Nearly 7 Years
Silver Readies For Biggest Monthly Gain In Nearly 7 Years
May 22, 2020 By Myra P. Saefong
Silver’s rise may be ‘overdone’: analyst
Silver futures have climbed by 50% from their March settlement low AFP/Getty Images
Referenced Symbols SIN20 +1.87% GCM20 +0.74%
Silver has far outperformed gold so far in May as improving demand has set the metal up for its biggest monthly percentage climb in close to seven years.
“Silver has a well-documented habit of coming late to gold’s party, only to then dramatically outperform the yellow metal,” said Brien Lundin, editor and publisher of Gold Newsletter.
The most-active July contract for silver futures SIN20, +1.87% settled at $17.693 an ounce on Friday. It trades about 18% higher month to date, which would mark the strongest monthly percentage climb for a most-active contract since August 2013, according to FactSet data.
By comparison, June gold GCM20, +0.74% has seen a more than 2% monthly rise, based on its Friday settlement at $1,735.50 an ounce.
“Once gold has somewhat run its course and starts to look expensive, a lot of people turn to the cheaper counterparty, namely silver, which has attracted fund and investor money,” said David Govett, head of precious metals at commodity brokerage Marex Spectron.
Quarter to date, silver futures are up around 25%, while gold pales in comparison with its nearly 9% rise.
Prices for silver have seen a “supply side tailwind” because of the amount of supply that temporarily came offline, said Rohan Reddy, analyst at global exchange-traded fund provider Global X.
An estimated two-thirds of the world’s silver mining supply was affected by COVID-19 related shutdowns, with large silver mining countries like Mexico and Peru shutting down for an extended period, he said, adding that Mexico is only now beginning the reopening process for mines. The “supply-demand imbalance” challenge may persist until “governments and private companies feel comfortable in beginning full scale mining reopenings.”
The tighter supplies fed higher prices, with silver up by 50% from their March settlement low, when prices dropped to $11.772, their lowest finish January 2009.
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