Silver Prices: Silver Price Jumps Amid Global Stock Selloff
Silver Prices Snaps Two-Day Decline
The silver price appreciated more than one percent on Tuesday, snapping a two-day decline, as risk-averse traders hurried to buy safety-haven investments and sell risky assets like stocks amid a global stock-market selloff.
The May silver price rose to as high as $15.22 a troy ounce before trimming gains to settle at $15.12 a troy ounce, or up 1.2%.
The silver price had lost 3.4% over the past two sessions following a robust U.S. jobs report last week.
The silver price is nearly 11% higher than its one-year low reached in December, but still 16% lower than its 52-week high of $17.90 a troy ounce, touched last May.
U.S. stock indexes fell sharply as European markets and most Asian markets headed south. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.5%, the S&P 500 fell 0.8%, while the NASDAQ Composite surrendered 0.7%.
Tuesday’s stock-market downdraft was blamed on falling oil prices and rekindled concerns over negative interest rates in places like Japan. That combined with worries about lackluster first-quarter earnings in the U.S., as well as rekindled fears about a British “Brexit” from the European Union and a Greek “Grexit” from the eurozone.
In Frankfurt on Tuesday, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde warned the global recovery remains “too slow, too fragile.”
She called for stronger action by the world’s economies to boost growth.
Lagarde said the United States should raise its minimum wage, Europe should improve job training, while emerging economies should cut fuel subsidies and boost social spending.
Bright Outlook for Precious Metals
Elsewhere in precious metals, the gold price settled 0.8% higher at $1,229.60 a troy ounce. The May copper price was flat at $2.14 a pound, the July platinum price increased 1.1% to $954.10 an ounce, while the June palladium price declined 1% to $546.70 an ounce.
Silver is one of the best performing investments in 2016 with a 9.2% gain, preceded by gold (16% rally), and the Brazilian real (up 12%).
Silver has so far bested the Russian ruble (up 7.3%), platinum (up 7.2%), the 10-year U.S. Treasury Note (up 4.4%), and the Canadian dollar (up 4.9%).
Among the worst performing investments this year are the U.S. Dollar Index (down 4.3%), palladium (down 3.1%), and crude oil (down 11%).
