Silver Price Flounders as US Dollar Nears 11-year High

iNVEZZ.com reported that silver is under “heavy downward pressure” on the back of the US dollar’s rise to a near 11-year high. The dollar’s increase came on the back of expectations for strong employment data out of the US, plus anticipation of a US interest rate hike.

As quoted in the market news:

Silver for immediate delivery had shed over five cents, or 0.33 percent, to $16.13 per ounce as of 06:28 GMT, and was trading about four percent beneath its 50-day simple moving average of $16.82. The precious metal has closed in the red during every session since the start of the week and is set for a 2.5 percent weekly drop, extending February’s 3.4 percent slip.

Silver settled 0.11 percent down yesterday after the European Central Bank (ECB) announced that it would start its more than one trillion euro quantitative easing programme on Monday. Following the news detailing the economic stimulus measures, the EUR/USD fell to its lowest level in about 11 years, helping the DXY dollar index hit a fresh 11-year peak of 96.593 during yesterday’s session. Demand for silver tends to ease with the strengthening of the US dollar as it makes dollar-denominated precious metals more expensive when converted into other currencies.

Click here to read the full iNVEZZ.com report.