The big silver price news today (Monday, Feb. 27) is how the metal remains at its highest level in more than three months. As of 9:25 a.m., the price of silver is up 0.02% to $18.42 per ounce.
For silver prices in 2017, it's looking like history is rhyming - if not repeating - last year...
That's because the precious metal was strong out of the gates as 2016 began. It rose from about $14 to $20 by midyear, clocking a blistering 43% gain.
And so far this year looks nearly identical. Silver was $16.80 at the start of January, and trades at $18.42 right now, for a 9.6% gain in under two months.
Will we see another gain of 40% or more by midyear? Of course, no one knows for sure, but the stars certainly seem to be lining up for a repeat performance.
That's why I'm going to share with you my 2017 silver price targets for the end of Q1 and later this year.
First, here's why silver prices surged last week...
Silver Price News Today: Prices Start Higher After Last Week's 1.3% Gain
On Monday, Feb. 20, silver prices opened at $17.96 - below their Friday, Feb. 17, close of $18.10. The metal closed 0.3% higher on the day at $18.02 as buyers came in on the back of a softer dollar.
But late on Monday, the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) gained as the market started to anticipate the near-term release of the latest FOMC minutes.
More Silver Price News Today: Silver Investing Could Hand You 20% Returns
That drove Tuesday's action as the DXY rallied from 100.9 late Monday to 101.5 in the early morning. The dollar rally dragged the price of silver back down to $17.89 at the open. But even that was short-lived, as the DXY reversed course midday. Silver buyers took advantage of dollar weakness and bid the metal up to a peak of $18.03. The silver price ended the day at $17.93 for a modest 0.2% gain.
Unlike gold prices, silver prices were relatively muted on Wednesday despite strong movement in the dollar. The DXY rallied as the market expected word from the Fed minutes that rates were likely to be raised in March.
Here's how the dollar trended last week...
But as you can see, that rally faded and the DXY backtracked. All of this did little to unsettle the silver price, which opened at $17.96 and closed at $17.98 for a 0.1% gain.
On Thursday, Feb. 23, the dollar endured a sharp sell-off from 101.4 to 101 by midday. Basically, the market digested the Fed's minutes and came away unconvinced about a March rate hike. As a result, silver prices opened at $18.02 but rapidly soared to peak at $18.06 before settling back and closing at $18.14. They climbed 0.7% on the day.
By Friday morning, the DXY dropped down to about 100.7. That - along with volatility in the Dow Jones Industrial Average - boosted the price of silver. It gained 0.2% to settle at $18.33. With that, silver scored a weekly gain of 1.3% from the previous Friday's close of $18.10.
As for silver price news today, the metal is still hovering at its highest level since Nov. 10. Prices are up 0.02% to $18.42 this morning.
But I see silver prices heading much higher this year thanks to a few bullish technical indicators. One of these indicators shows how silver is increasing in value compared to gold.
Here's our silver price prediction for 2017...
Our High Silver Price Targets for 2017
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In my view, this healthy rally in silver prices won't end here. I see the precious metal going much higher due to some interesting movement in the gold/silver ratio.
Despite the gold price making a strong move higher, the silver price has been moving even faster, which the gold/silver ratio confirms...
A month ago, I pointed out that with the gold/silver ratio around 70, it was primed to head lower. Since then, that's exactly where it's headed - down to 68.81 as of last Thursday.
And the silver price has surged higher in response...
Silver clearly has momentum on its side, especially if you look at how prices recently broke above the 200-day moving average of $17.97. This shows there may still be some upside left before silver temporarily pulls back.
I think we could see silver prices hit about $18.50 before that happens.
Even if the price of silver does pull back in the next few weeks, $19 looks attainable by the end of the first quarter. Then, I think the silver price could reach $22 or higher by the end of the year.
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