Two major world banks are bullish on silver for 2014

London (Dec 29)  The bullish side of silver -- Citi is calling for weakness in silver in 2014, but it expects a modest bounce in future years, with targets of $22.20 for 2015, $22.50 for 2016, and $23 for 2017. Merrill Lynch expects an average price of silver for 2014 of more than $23, with weakness early in the year followed by a climb to $25 by the second half of 2014. B of A in particular believes that rising industrial activity will increase that aspect of silver's demand, an attribute that gold largely lacks that could help silver prices disconnect from gold.

Commerzbank/Frankfurt shares the bullish industrial theory on silver, expecting average silver prices of $21.50 in 2014 but $24.50 the following year. With industrial demand for silver having been weak in 2013, analysts expect stronger levels of activity to contribute to continuing demand from investors in supporting prices.