Silver Prices Approach Five-Month Highs After Stellar Week

London (Sept 8)  Silver is rounding out a stellar week on a strong note, as prices rose to more than four-and-a-half month highs on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

September silver futures advanced 16 cents, or 0.9%, to $18.28 a troy ounce at 7:47 a.m. ET. The grey metal traded between $18.17 and $18.29 through the overnight session. For the week, silver is on track for a gain of 2.6%.

Gold prices notched fresh 12-month highs on Friday, as the December contract climbed $7.90, or 0.6%, to $1,358.30 a troy ounce.

The U.S. dollar extended its free-fall in the final session of the week to trade at its lowest level since January 2015. The DXY dollar index declined 0.6% to reach 91.09. The currency is down nearly 11% since the start of 2017.

In economic data, China’s trade surplus with the rest of the world narrowed unexpectedly in August, the General Administration of Customs reported Friday.

Beijing’s dollar-denominated surplus reached $41.99 billion, down from $46.73 billion the month before. Dollar-denominated exports expanded 5.5% annually, while imports gained 14.4%.

Hurricane Irma is set to make landfall on Florida’s southeastern shore this weekend. The category 5 storm ravaged the Caribbean over the past few days, leaving at least eight people dead.

Hurricane Harvey ripped through the state of Texas last month, with local officials estimating the damage to be upward of $120 billion.

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