Silver convincingly pushed north of $38 an ounce last Friday, matching prices not seen since 2011. The move has been a long time coming and follows in the footsteps of other precious metals. Gold has understandably had its fair share of headlines this year, haven risen 28% since January and breaking record after record long the way. Despite a lack of comparable coverage, silver is up 33% over the same time frame. Precious metals in general have been very active recently, with platinum establishing a fresh record high on Friday at $1,459 per ounce and copper achieving the same accolade the week prior. If anything, silver is still lagging behind and has a lot of catching up to do before it surpasses its historic high of $49.95 an ounce set all the way back in 1980. There are a number of factors pushing silver higher. Part of the reason is simple spillover from the broader metals market, resulting in a rotation into silver from copper and other metals. A larger reason is that fundamentally, the case for silver remains strong due to robust industrial demand coupled with tightening international supplies. Silver is useful for a number of applications including solar panels and electric vehicles – both growing sectors – while geopolitical uncertainty is having a negative effect on key mining regions. Supplies in the London vaults are supposedly dwindling.
After reaching a record high last Friday, Bitcoin pushed higher still over the weekend and continued to break new ground this morning. Prices are now above $122,000 and the crypto sphere is currently undergoing a market-wide surge. As valuations rise, so too does the hype surrounding “crypto week” in the US, a week during which several crypto-adjacent bills will be discussed and voted on in Congress. The purpose of all of this is to foster greater regulatory clarity in the cryptocurrency sector, for developers and users alike.
Very little to whet the appetite this week. Inflation is the only real item on the menu, with the US and Canada reporting on Tuesday, the UK publishing on Wednesday, Eurozone on Thursday and finally Japan to close out the week on Friday. The US inflation figures will no doubt have an influence on the next Fed rate call scheduled for the end of the month. A slight increase is expected from the 2.4% recorded in May, with analysts forecasting a year-over-year headline figure of 2.6% in June. Meanwhile, tariffs are back in the arena, as this weekend Trump threatened the EU and Mexico with a new batch of 30% duties, to take effect on the first of August.
Risk Warning : Trading derivatives and leveraged products carries a high level of risk.
OPEN ACCOUNT
