Silver is shining brighter than gold this year
Quietly, silver has become hot in 2024. The big question is whether it can stay hot.
The answer may depend on gold, which also has been strong this year.
Silver closed Friday at $28.33 per troy ounce in futures trading in New York, up nearly 18% for the year.
In the process the metal hit nearly $30 an ounce for the first time since May 2021.
On Monday, silver moved higher again, settling at $28.717 per ounce, up 1.4% from Friday, extending the year-to-date gain to 19.2%.
Related: Ex-Treasury official unveils startling interest rate outlook
Its year-to-date gain has outpaced that of gold, which closed on April 12 at a record $2,374.19 an ounce and moved Monday to $2,383, another record. The close translates into a 15% gain on the year.
Likewise, the iShares Silver Trust ETF (SLV) was higher on Monday, closing at $26.41, up 3% on the day. It's up 21.3 % year-to-date.
The iShares Gold Trust ETF (IAU) , up 1.9% on Monday at $220.95, is up 15.6% in 2024.
There is a lot of bullishness around gold, which also extends to silver. Goldman Sachs raised its year-end target price for gold to $2,700 an ounce, a 13.3% gain from Monday's settlement.
A similar rise for silver would move the price to about $32.45.
Sometimes, it should be noted, targets happen.
Why silver has been climbing
Silver's rise this year is the product of several causes.
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Sticky inflation that won't let the Federal Reserve cut interest rates.
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Increasing global demand for the metal (plus gold and other precious metals). Global production is either flat or declining.
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Investor interest around the world, but especially in India and China, in protecting wealth in the face of geopolitical tensions.
The last factor was probably the top reason for silver's 4% gain in the past week and 13.7% gain so far in April.
Worries that violence in the Middle East might spin out of control set off buying in gold, silver and platinum all last week.
Peter Dazeley/Getty Images
Iran's drone-and-missile attack, which erupted late Saturday, was mostly turned away by Israel, with help from military forces from the U.S. and U.K.
Prices were flat when futures trading opened in Asia on Monday. At 8:30 p.m. EDT Sunday, silver was quoted at $28.26 an ounce, down 7 cents from Friday. Gold was up $4.10 at $2,378.20.
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What's not clear is whether silver — as well as gold — is getting too pricey. Relative-strength measures for both metals this past week both soared above 80, a clear warning the market for each is overbought.