Silver Prices Poised for First Weekly Gain in Three

New York (June 23)  Silver advanced for a second straight session Friday and was on track to break a two-week skid, as momentum return to precious metals amid renewed weakness in the U.S. dollar.

September silver futures surged 21 cents, or 1.3%, to $16.78 a troy ounce at 7:37 a.m. ET.  Prices fluctuated within a range of $16.58 and $16.83 through the overnight session.

The grey metal is on track to break even for the week, as the market stemmed a two-week reversal that dragged prices 7% lower. The latest uptrend suggests that a rally back above the $17.00 level is likely over the short term.

August gold futures also nudged higher Friday, gaining $8.50, or 0.7%, to $1,257.80 a troy ounce. Despite gains in back-to-back sessions, bullion is on track to break even for the week.

Gold’s premium over silver declined to 75.66 on Thursday. This effectively states that one ounce of gold is worth 75.66 ounces of silver.

Precious metals were underpinned by a slightly weaker dollar, which fell for a second consecutive session Friday. The dollar index, a broad performance measure of the U.S. currency against a basket of six rivals, fell 0.2% to 97.43.

The dollar has emerged as one of the year’s worst-performing currencies, as traders shrugged off multiple rate hikes by the Federal Reserve on mounting concerns of a slowdown in the U.S. economy. Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded a mere 1.2% annually in the first quarter; data since then have showed a broad cool down in inflation and retail sales.

Last week, the Fed maintained its outlook for three rate rises in 2017 and outlined a tentative plan for shrinking its $4.5 trillion balance sheet.

Source: EconomicCalendar