Silver futures firm at Rs 67,432 per kg, strong dollar caps upside

Silver

Silver prices were firm at Rs 67,432 per kg on March 18 as participants increased their long positions as seen by the open interest. The precious metal had gained 0.2 percent yesterday on the NYMEX.

The white metal pared gain after a gap-up start in the evening session tracking strength in the US dollar.

The semi-precious metal has been trading higher than 5, 20, 100 and 200 days’ moving averages but lower than 50-day moving averages on the daily chart. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is at 50.20 which indicates neutral momentum in prices.

Silver has been supported by the US Fed’s upbeat economic outlook but the strength in the dollar capped upside.

Silver holdings in iShares ETF fell by 66.4 tonnes to 18,348.92 tonnes, the lowest since January 28.

The US dollar index traded firm at 91.60, up 0.19 percent in the evening trade against the major currencies.

MCX Bulldesk rose 23 points or 0.18 percent, at 14,304 at 17:01. The index tracks the real-time performance of MCX Gold and MCX Silver futures.

Kshitij Purohit, Product Manager, Currency & Commodities, CapitalVia Global Research Limited said, “International silver is moving in a bearish momentum and we may expect prices to sustain below the resistance level of $26.5-26.7. MCX Silver is moving with a bearish trend since noon session, major support levels of Rs 66,850-66,550 could be breached in the evening session if supported by heavy volumes.”

In the futures market, silver for May delivery touched an intraday high of Rs 68,470 and a low of Rs 67,260 per kg on the MCX. So far in the current series, the precious metal has touched a low of Rs 59,826 and a high of Rs 75,501.

Silver delivery for the May contract gained Rs 205, or 0.30 percent to Rs 67,432 per kg at 17:04 hours with a business turnover of 11,854 lots. The same for the July contract climbed Rs 331, or 0.48 percent, to Rs 68,589 per kg with a turnover of 135 lots.

The value of May and July’s contracts traded so far is Rs 2,022.87 crore and Rs 23.82 crore, respectively.

Similarly, the Silver Mini contract for April edged higher Rs 239, or 0.36 percent at Rs 67,523 on a business turnover of 18,582 lots.

The spot gold/silver ratio currently stands at 66.29 to 1 indicating that silver has outperformed gold.

Geojit Financial Services said intraday weakness may setoff only below the Rs 66,700 region in the Silver Mini contract. Botched attempt to decline below the same could boost prices higher in the coming session.

At 1142 (GMT), the precious metal was up 0.33 percent quoting at $26.14 an ounce in New York.

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