Consequently, a slowing global economy and weakening industrial environment, notably in China, has weighed on industrial demand for metals.
“Silver is a funky commodity,” longtime commodities trader Andy Hecht told CNBC. “Recently it’s been wearing its industrial hat rather than its precious hat, but that could change.”
However, with the economy picking up, precious metals traders may see silver pull back ahead.
“Historically, we are in an area of gold outperformance over silver that is not sustainable,” Larry McDonald, a macro strategist and editor of The Bear Traps Report, told CNBC. “We’re at extremely, extremely lofty levels in terms of outperformance, and I think the risk/reward is much better here to be long silver and short gold over the near term.”
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Max Chen contributed to this article.