Silver takes charge with gold a reluctant follower

On the back of the recent strong performance across industrial metals, silver ended up taking the lead with yesterday’s trigger being the combination of weaker than expected U.S. ISM Manufacturing and higher ISM Prices Paid. The renewed pull from surging industrial metals can be seen through the gold-silver ratio which has been in a downtrend during the past month. From above 70 ounces of silver to one ounce of gold on April 1 it has since declined to a seven-week low at 66.5.

Comment from Kim Cramer Larsson, our technical analyst:
“Silver rallied almost 4% yesterday and closed above the resistance level around $26.65/oz, thereby confirming the uptrend which started back in early April. RSI is above the 60 threshold which support the bullish sentiment and only a close below $25.7 will demolish this short-term bullish scenario.”

While the double bottom in gold was confirmed on the recent break above $1765, the lack of follow-through and now multiple rejections below $1800 has left traders somewhat bewildered. The short-term technical outlook however still looks promising above $1765 and a break above $1800 could signal a move towards the $1818 and $1833, an area that undoubtedly would begin to shake out long-held trend following short positions.