Silver Prices Headed for Weekly Gain, but Bearish Pressure Persists

London JUly 14)  Silver prices rose Friday morning and were on track for weekly gains, as the grey metal stabilized from last week’s apparent flash crash.

September silver futures were up 7 cents, or 0.4%, at $15.77 a troy ounce at 7:28 a.m. ET. The grey metal was trading at session highs, having rebounded from an earlier loss.

For the week, silver is on track for a gain of around 1.5%. Last Friday, the metal plunged 3.4% to settle at more than one-year lows, as a technical selloff triggered massive volatility in the market.

Gold futures were also pacing toward a modest weekly advance following three consecutive gains through Wednesday. The yellow metal was last seen trading at $1,221.70 a troy ounce, where it was up $4.70, or 0.4%, from the previous close.

Precious metals failed to rally in the latter half of the week even as the dollar fell following bearish comments from Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen. Testifying before Congress, Yellen indicated that monetary policy will be slow to change.

The Fed boss also cited growing concerns about weak underlying inflation, something that may deter the central bank from raising interest rates too quickly.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will meet in two weeks’ time before breaking for the summer.

The U.S. dollar index (DXY), a broad performance gauge of the greenback against a basket of six currencies, was down 0.1% at 95.63. The dollar has suffered broad declines at the hands of the euro, pound and Canadian loonie over the past several weeks.

EconomicCalendar