Silver Price to Keep Rising on Safe-Haven Demand

New York (Apr 25)  In early afternoon trading, spot silver was last up $0.03, or 0.15%, at 19.78 an ounce. The metal traded as low as $19.57 and as high as $19.92 in another volatile session.

The white metal went on a rollercoaster ride Thursday, trading as low as $18.85 before settling at $19.68, up 1.3%, or $0.25.

"The severe fluctuations in the gold and silver prices were accompanied by high trading volumes on the Comex [on Thursday]," Carsten Fritsch, a commodity strategist at Commerzbank, told Bloomberg. "Especially in the case of silver, 130,000 futures contracts were traded - twice as many as in the preceding days - which points to speculative and technically oriented investors. On the other hand, the high volatility could deter physical buyers, which would put short-term pressure on prices."

Bargain hunters, however, are likely to cushion silver prices.

Silver has given back almost all of the 15% gain it achieved over January and February. During the first two months of 2014, the white metal hit a year-to-date high of just over $22. That followed a brutal 2013 that left silver down an excruciating 36%.

The white metal is now up a lukewarm 1.8% year to date.