While precious metals are falling Friday, some experts are suggesting that silver especially could continue to rise in the future.
Silver and gold are both trading lower today, with front month gold futures down 2.4% to trade at $1765.10 an ounce, or $43.60 lower, while silver slumped 3.68%, or almost $1 to trade near $24.36 per ounce.
“Gold prices witnessed selling with rise in US bond yields,” according to HDFC Securities, senior analyst (Commodities) Tapan Patel.
The move lower put pressure on silver ETFs like the iShares Silver Trust (SLV), which fell over 3% on Friday, along with silver futures.
Despite the drop in commodities and precious metals on Friday, some experts see a rise in silver over the long haul, as President Biden’s electric vehicle revolution could eventually mean that the U.S is going to need more commodities and industrial metals for vehicles.
Copper, palladium, platinum, lithium, nickel, and rare earth metals that are used for batteries and renewable energy technology. Silver is one of the most-demanded industrial metals as well.
“Silver is poised to benefit from the electrification process because of its use in solar panels, EVs (electric vehicles) and charging points,” Suki Cooper, an analyst at Standard Chartered, told Reuters.
Gold’s lower-priced companion is a critical component in Biden’s aggressive $1 trillion dollar plan. The industrial metal will be used for electric vehicles, the batteries, fuel cells and plug-in charging stations that power them, and the cables connecting new wind turbines and solar farms to the electric-powered grid.
Europe and China have been pushing for electric vehicles using regulations, incentives for consumers, and subsidies for carmakers and battery producers. President Biden’s pledge to follow a related plan means that the world’s three largest car markets are moving away from internal combustion at a faster pace than anyone could have predicted just several years ago.
“This is the last major piece in the jigsaw,” said Peter Wells, director of the Center for Automotive Industry Research at Cardiff Business School in Wales. “This does put pressure on some of the more laggardly companies.”
While silver futures have fallen from the $30 level seen earlier this year, Goldman Sachs envisions silver prices climbing to $33 an ounce in 2021, aided by both investment and industrial demand for the precious metal.
“Our view is that silver is vulnerable to a wave of selling in August and into September,” Jeff Christian, managing partner of New York–based commodities consulting firm CPM Group tells Barron’s. “If you see $24 an ounce prices, then buy it because the probability is that we’ll see $28 soon.
Meanwhile, despite optimism from some silver bugs, the gold/silver ratio, an important measure for investors and precious metals analysts, showed robust upside momentum, and was able to crest 72.50. According to some analysts, the next resistance level is located around 73, and if the gold/silver ratio manages to surpass this target, it will head towards recent highs at 73.35, which could be bearish for silver.
Technical analysts are preparing for both possibilities.
“Silver managed to get below the support at $24.50 and is trying to settle below the next support level at $24.20. In case this attempt is successful, silver will head towards the support at $24.00. A move below $24.00 will open the way to the test of the support at $23.80. If silver declines below this level, it will head towards the support at $23.50. On the upside, the previous support at $24.50 will serve as the first resistance level for silver. If silver manages to settle back above this level, it will head towards the resistance at $24.70. A successful test of this level will push silver towards the next resistance level at $25.00,” wrote Vladimir Zernov of FXempire.com.
Investors who are interested in gaining exposure to precious metals can consider easy-to-use ETFs. For example, the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEArca: GLD), iShares Gold Trust (IAU), Aberdeen Standard Gold ETF Trust (SGOL), and Sprott Physical Gold Trust (PHYS) offer exposure to gold price movements.
Additionally, the Aberdeen Standard Physical Silver Shares ETF (SIVR), iShares Silver Trust (SLV), and Sprott Physical Silver Trust (PSLV) can help track the silver market.
For more information on the precious metals market, visit our precious metals category.