During the last trading session, silver contracts demonstrated rather a weak performance. The silver contract for delivery in May fell by 0.72 % to reach a floor price close of $28.32 per troy ounce.
Meantime, the US economy expanded at an annual rate of 4%. This positive economic data recently pressured the white metal’s price further down.
In electronic trading, silver price dropped by 1.12% to close at $28.31 per troy ounce.
This morning silver traded flat at around $28.30 per ounce.
In March, the white metal remained weak in the $28 range unable to break the price lock. Silver closed the quarter at $28.305 and traded in a monthly range between $29.343 and $27.947. This is the most restricted range the commodity has recorded in months. The actual average price was $28.788. That is well below the forecasts of $30.00 per ounce. One of the main reasons for this development is that investors with safe haven assets interest have been largely ignoring the metal.
Cyprus banks reopened last Thursday. The worries about bank runs in other nations faded away. Previously the safety asset seeking largely intensified. Yet, the news brought no support to silver prices. The improved sentiment on Thursday was actually a source of pressure on the commodity.
In the first week of April, several events may provide support to silver. A number of central banks will gather for meetings during the week. On Tuesday the Reserve Bank of Australia will have a board meeting. The meetings of Bank of England and Bank of Japan are scheduled on Thursday. Yet, most analysts don’t forecast any crucial policy changes. In addition, the Cyprus banking situation is still under consideration.
Later in the week, the monthly US employment data for March is also to be announced. Experts’ expectations point for 170,000 new jobs. The previous month jobs numbers passed the expectations. Therefore investors are anxiously awaiting the data.
So far in 2013 silver prices have struggled. But according to some technical analysts, silver has just about bottomed out. So, it may be headed for a rally. These suggestions have been built on a trend of heavy buying of physical metal by silver-backed ETFs such as iShares Silver Trust ETF. In addition, the demand for Silver Eagle coins from the US Mint was unusually strong in 2013. But the most positive factor is that the industrial demand for silver is expected to rise by 7% this year and another 6% in 2014.
