Silver Sits Not Far Off The 2018 Low

London (July 13)  Less than one month ago on June 14, the price of silver reached a peak at $17.43 per ounce on the active month COMEX September futures contract. The high turned out to be eight cents lower than the previous peak in the September contract on April 19.

Silver's attempt at a rally could not make a higher high which has been a repeating theme for the precious metal dating back to the July 2016 peak of $21.095 per ounce. On the continuous contract chart, the June 14 peak was at $17.35, while the April high was only one cent higher at $17.36 per ounce. While silver came close to eclipsing a previous peak, it failed by just one penny.

Since the most recent high on June 14, which feels like ages ago, the price of silver slipped to lows of $15.78 on July 12 which was a new low for 2018. A failure to make a higher high led to a lower low in the silver market. While silver recovered to $16 per ounce level, as I write this piece it does not feel like it is running away on the upside anytime soon.

The range widens, slightly

As the weekly chart highlights, in 2016 the precious metal traded in a range from $13.73 to $21.095 or $7.365 per ounce. In 2017 the band narrowed to $15.15 to $18.655, or $3.505 which was less than half the range of the previous year. The recent move to a low of $15.73 on the nearby COMEX silver futures market in early July means the range so far in 2018 has been $1.975 as the high for this year in late January was at $17.705 per ounce. The range widened over recent sessions, but silver has still traded in a tighter band from high to low this year compared to 2017. The weekly chart illustrates a continuation of lower highs in the silver market dating back two years to July 2016, and while price momentum continues to trend lower, the slow stochastic has declined into oversold territory.

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