The Silver Price Climbs to an 11-Year High Above $30: What’s Driving the Surge?

Key Takeaways

• Silver remains in focus on Monday after the metal climbed to an 11-year high on Friday above the key psychological $30 level.
• The metal’s price remains supported by its reputation as a safe-haven asset, softness in the U.S. dollar, and utility as an industrial application.
• Monitor for a potential move to the $35 area, a region where the price may run into overhead resistance from a key multi-year horizontal line stretching back to three prominent swing highs in 2011 and 2012.

Silver (SILVER) remains in focus on Monday after the metal climbed to an 11-year high above the closely watched psychological $30 mark, benefiting from its safe-haven characteristics, softness in the U.S. dollar, and utility as an industrial application.

With no end in sight to the conflict in the Middle East and Russia’s war on Ukraine, investors continue to bid up silver prices, along with the value of other precious metals, as they seek assets to hedge against ongoing geopolitical uncertainty. This narrative will likely carry into this week on news that a helicopter carrying Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi crashed in mountains on Sunday.

A softening Greenback over the past week has also provided tailwinds for silver prices. Weaker-than-expected April readings released this month on employment and inflation have put downward pressure on the U.S. dollar as investors bring forward their expectations of interest rate cuts, making dollar-dominated commodities, such as silver and gold (GOLD), cheaper for foreign buyers.

Longer-term, the metal stands to benefit from growing industrial demand. Last month, the Silver Institute’s World Silver Survey report projected a 9% jump in the commodity’s industrial demand this year, driven by renewable energy applications. It forecasts silver used in solar panel manufacturing increasing 20% in 2024 to 232 million ounces, while expecting jewelry demand to improve by around 4%.

Monitor This Chart Level As Silver’s Price Shines

Zooming out to the weekly chart to gain a longer-term perspective, the silver price broke out from an ascending triangle in early April, retested the initial breakout level and has continued its move higher over the past two weeks. Moreover, the 50-day moving average (MA) sits above the 200-day MA, indicating that the metal remains in a strong uptrend.

Given silver now trades above pandemic-era peaks around $30, investors should look for a potential move to the $35 area, a region where the price may run into overhead resistance from a key multi-year horizontal line stretching back to three prominent swing highs in 2011 and 2012. A convincing breakout through this level could see the price make another attempt at its record high set at $47.71 in April 2011.

The comments, opinions, and analyses expressed on Investopedia are for informational purposes only. Read our warranty and liability disclaimer for more info.

As of the date this article was written, the author does not own any of the above securities.

Read the original article on Investopedia.