Silver prices were off nearly 1% on Wednesday afternoon, nearly matching gold’s plunge, as the equities markets surged to fresh all-time highs amid renewed Trump-fueled optimism about economic growth.
Precious metals sold off in the face of the big stock rally, in which the Dow breached the “big round number” 20,000 level for the first time in history. March Comex silver was last down $0.205 (-0.98%) at $16.985 an ounce in Wednesday afternoon trading. Silver’s year-to-date gains are still firmly intact however, with the gray metal still up well over 6% since the start of 2016.
For a technical analysis update on silver prices, check out the notes below, courtesy of Kitco:
March silver futures prices closed near mid-range. The silver market bears have the near-term technical advantage. Silver bulls’ next upside price breakout objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $17.50 an ounce. The next downside price breakout objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at $16.00. First resistance is seen at today’s high of $17.16 and then at the January high of $17.36. Next support is seen at today’s low of $16.78 and then at $16.61. Wyckoff’s Market Rating: 4.0.
On the ETF side of things, the iShares Silver Trust ETF (NYSE:SLV) was trading at $16.07 per share on Wednesday afternoon, down $0.15 (-0.92%). Year-to-date, SLV has gained 6.35%, versus a 2.62% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.
SLV currently has an ETF Daily News SMART Grade of C (Neutral), and is ranked #14 of 32 ETFs in the Precious Metals ETFs category.