Silver prices were steady at Rs 63,850 per kg on April 1 as participants increased their long positions as seen by the open interest. The precious metal jumped 1.6 percent on Comex the previous day.
The white metal traded flat after a gap-down start in the afternoon session, tracking a subdued trend in gold and industrial metals.
The semi-precious metal has been trading lower than 5, 20, 50, 100 and 200 days’ moving averages on the daily chart. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is at 37.31, indicating bearish momentum in prices.
A sharp bounce back in gold from over three-week low helped silver as well. It also benefitted from the general optimism surrounding the US and Chinese economies.
US President Joe Biden on March 31 unveiled the first of the two expected portions of the next phase of his economic agenda. The package expected to cost $2.3 trillion will include a tax hike for higher-income Americans and businesses.
Silver holdings in iShares ETF decreased by 121.3 tonnes to 17,888.36 tonnes. The fund NAV is trading at a premium of 1.85 percent.
The US dollar index traded modestly lower at 93.20, down 0.04 percent in the afternoon trade against major currencies. The dollar index hit a 2021 high of 93.47 earlier this week.
The spot gold/silver ratio stands at 70.30 to 1, indicating that gold has outperformed silver.
MCX Bulldesk soared 35 points or 0.25 percent, at 14,031 at 15:00. The index tracks the real-time performance of MCX Gold and MCX Silver futures.
“In other precious metals, silver inched down this Thursday morning and early afternoon trade in Asia. Silver has been underperforming gold over the last few trading sessions as the gold-silver ratio shows. The ratio was at 70.54 levels in the early afternoon trade compared to 69.12 on a closing basis on March 26.
“Technically, LBMA silver Spot is holding support near $23.75 levels and could see a bounce back up to $24.80 levels. Technically, MCX Silver May has bounced back from Rs 62,500 and trading on a positive note near Rs 63,800 indicating further upside momentum up to Rs 64,200-64,800 levels," Iyer added.
On the MCX , silver for May delivery touched an intraday high of Rs 64,040 and a low of Rs 63,512 a kg. So far in the current series, the precious metal has touched a low of Rs 59,826 and a high of Rs 75,501.
Silver delivery for the May contract rose Rs 36, or 0.06 percent, to Rs 63,850 a kg at 1503 hours, with a business turnover of 10,991 lots. The same for the July contract gained Rs 139, or 0.21 percent, to Rs 64,850 per kg with a turnover of 1,001 lots.
The value of May and July contracts traded, so far, is Rs 702.85 crore and Rs 12.39 crore.
Similarly, the silver mini contract for April rose Rs 26, or 0.04 percent, at Rs 64,058 on a business turnover of 14,710 lots.
“Silver markets initially dipped below 200-day EMA on Wednesday as we continue to see a lot of noise in markets. With the rising US dollar, overall, this is bad for precious metals and if it sustains below Rs 62,500, then it is very likely that we will go towards Rs 60,000 level. The resistance is at Rs 64,000 levels," Kshitij Purohit, Product Manager, Currency & Commodities, CapitalVia Global Research Limited said.
Silver may witness choppy trade as gold and industrial metals struggle for direction, however, a sharp rise is unlikely unless the US dollar corrects sharply. The trend in the dollar and bond yields may continue to be a price-determining factor for gold and silver and the focus will be on the US and European economic data and development relating to US stimulus plan, virus outbreak and vaccine programme, said Kotak Securities.
At 0940 GMT, the precious metal fell 0.40 percent quoting at $24.43 an ounce in New York.
For all commodities-related news, click here
Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.