Last week, silver like other commodities trended lower through majority of the trading hours, before rebounding on Friday.
Prices of the white metal have fallen more than 37% since April and may be on a recovery path from a 28% drop last month.
Silver has performed better than any other precious metals swinging from losses to gains over the past 12 months, exceeding the rise in gold, platinum and palladium as it remains on track to post its highest annual average ever.
Reports released by Bloomberg show silver benefiting from an improving European economy more than any other precious metal as it serves the dual purpose of being used as an industrial metal and a precious metal for investing reasons. Analysts expect China to be a major contributor in directing the price of silver, as demand continues to be driven with the metal’s widespread industry usage. Additional demand is also coming from investors looking to diversify their investments.
A Bloomberg survey has analysts centering on an average price of $38 / ounce for this quarter, which would imply almost a 25% increase from September’s close.
The white metal is poised to close lower during the week after registering consecutive weekly gains for the past two weeks. By mid NA trading hours, the gold to silver ratio edged up to 52.58 from 52.34 last week, with silver prices retreating 3.4% and gold prices declining 2.6% during the week.[mpoverlay][/mpoverlay]
