Silver Prices Headed for Fourth Straight Down Session

London (Sept 14)  Silver prices edged lower on Thursday and were on track for their fourth consecutive drop, as precious metals resumed their downward consolidation.

Silver futures for September delivery fell 14 cents, or 0.8%, to $17.73 a troy ounce at 8:03 a.m. ET. The contract rose hovered between $17.70 and $17.86 through the overnight session.

Since reaching nearly five-month highs last week, silver has declined more than 2%. The reversal has been associated with a more stable U.S. dollar and improved risk appetite in the global financial markets following a weaker than expected Hurricane Irma.

Gold prices also backtracked on Thursday, with the December futures contract falling $3.40, or 0.3%, to $1,324.60 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gold’s premium over silver has declined sharply over the past two weeks amid broad gains in both metals. As of Tuesday’s close, one ounce of gold was worth 74.47 ounces of silver. That represents a decline of 0.9% over the past 30 days.

In currencies, the U.S. dollar weakened slightly against a basket of world peers. The dollar index (DXY) edged down 0.1% to 92.35. The dollar has gained 1.2% since Friday’s bottom at more than two-and-a-half year lows.

The Bank of England (BOE) kept interest rates on hold Thursday in a decision that was widely expected by the financial markets. Seven of nine policy committee members voted to keep the benchmark rate at 0.25% and the size of the asset purchase facility at £435 billion.

Reuters