MW: Silver rallies, but set for hefty drop on quarter
Silver futures led the rally among major metals Friday, but it was still poised for a loss of around 16% for the quarter..
Silver for September delivery SIU2 +4.48% tacked on $1.17, or 4.5%, to $27.45 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The move outpaced strength in gold, which saw its August contract CLQ2 +5.77% jump $48, or 3.1%, to $1,598.40 an ounce.
“Silver is always more volatile vs. gold,” said James Carrillo, senior portfolio adviser for precious-metals investment firm Swiss America Trading Corp. “It is very oversold at this time and metals tend to bottom this time of year.”
Carrillo said silver prices could easily hit or surpass $50 an ounce by the first quarter of 2013.
But Andrew Schrage, co-owner of Money Crashers Personal Finance, said he doesn’t expect to see much movement in silver prices in the short term.
Still, if the solar industry, which uses silver to manufacture solar panels, “can figure out how to use silver profitably at a higher price, you may see some improvement in 2013” for silver prices. And looking long term, he believes silver is a “good bet, especially if domestic and global economies recover.”
