Silver price rises to 8 years high; retailers are working on short squeeze

Editor’s Note: With so much market volatility, stay tuned for the daily news! Get caught up in our quick recap of today’s most read news and expert opinions in minutes. Register here!

(Kitco News) – Silver futures prices are trading sharply higher, hitting an eight-year high of $ 30.35 in early US trading on Monday. Retailers, encouraged by social media chat rooms, are working on a short market shortage, which means they are trying to force traders to short the silver market to capitulate. Gold is following silver higher and is also seeing some demand for safe havens amid a recently shaky US stock market. April gold futures were last up $ 17.30 to $ 1,867.40 and March Comex silver was last up $ 2,896 to $ 29.81 an ounce.

The hallmark of the market starting the week of trading and the month of February is that the silver price today fell to an eight-year high above $ 30 an ounce as retailers look for a “short squeeze” in the market. . Social media lit up over the weekend, especially on Reddit, as the growing group of retail traders wanted to beat another market – this time silver – that they claim is dominated and manipulated by the “big boys” on Wall Street. This follows the GameStop saga that unfolded last week, where the smaller retailers put pressure on the major hedge funds that shorted the troubled business. The silver is a much bigger beast to include than a smaller individual stock. Still, the “Redditors” have scared many on Wall Street, especially the big hedge funds who like to short stocks they think will run into trouble now or in the future. While the gains in silver are certainly strong, it’s not the epic moonshot price hikes that some social media sites predicted over the weekend. However, the trading week is still young and a lot can still happen. Importantly, the gold and silver markets had a bit of a tailwind before the Redditor trading began. Many experienced market watchers already believed that the ‘inflation trade’ would stimulate the markets for raw commodities, including the metals, what with big central banks and governments pumping so much liquidity into financial systems to kickstart major world economies paralyzed by the Covid. -19 pandemic.

Global stock markets tended to be firmer overnight. US stock indices point to higher openings when the New York day session begins, following a lower opening in Sunday night trading. Declines in the number of Covid-19 infections and deaths in the US are positive elements for trader and investor sentiment.

In other news overnight, the Eurozone manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) stood at 54.8 from 55.2 in December. A reading above 50.0 indicates growth in the sector.

The main “external markets” are seeing the US dollar index rise today. In the meantime, Nymex crude oil futures prices are higher, trading around $ 52.65 a barrel. The yield of the 10-year US Treasury bill in the benchmark is 1.076%.

US economic data released Monday includes the US manufacturing PMI, the ISM report on corporate manufacturing, the global manufacturing PMI and construction spending.

Technically, February’s gold futures bulls have the slight overall short-term technical advantage amid the recent choppy trading. Bulls’ next upward price target is to close futures in February above a solid resistance of USD 1,900.00. Bears’ next short term downward price target is to push futures prices below solid technical support to the January low of $ 1,804.70. The first resistance is seen at last week’s high of USD 1,878.90 and then at USD 1,900.00. Initial support is seen at its nightly low of $ 1,851.70 and then its last week low of $ 1,832.40. Wyckoff’s market rating: 5.5

The March silver futures bulls have the strong overall short term technical advantage with the big gains from the past three days. Silver Bulls’ next upward price target is to close prices above solid technical resistance at $ 35.00 an ounce. The next downward price target for the bears is to close prices below solid support at USD 27.77. The first resistance is at USD 30.00 and then the night’s high at USD 30.35. The next support is seen at USD 29.00 and then the night low of USD 28,155. Wyckoff’s market rating: 9.5.