Silver sparkles as prices touch fresh peak of Rs 82,109/kg

Mumbai: Silver surged to an all-time high on Monday as lingering geopolitical concerns and expectations of interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve are fueling a record-breaking rally in precious metals. The precious metal could gain by another 10-15% from current levels, said experts.

Silver contracts, which have risen by more than a tenth in a week, touched a lifetime high of ₹82,109 per kilogram on the MCX on Monday.

Both gold and silver trying to breach their multi-year highs indicates that a bull market is in force for precious metals, and historically, silver has outperformed gold in such situations, said Sahil Kapoor, market strategist at DSP Mutual Fund. “Conditions are favorable. A breakout is happening after many years, and if you have already allocated to silver, stay put, and if not, you should allocate and wait,” he said. While the precious metal typically moves in tandem with gold prices, it also takes cues from base metal prices because of its usage across several industries including electronics, batteries and semiconductors. Base metal prices have seen a recent rally following encouraging manufacturing data from China. “Middle East tensions and China‘s heavy buying drove silver’s demand, pushing prices up. Meanwhile Fed‘s Powell last week hinted at cautious rate cuts, influencing silver’s long-term bullish outlook,” said Naveen Mathur, director for commodities and currencies at Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers. The demand for silver is expected to grow 1% globally to 1.2 billion ounces in 2024, while supply is seen rising 3% to 1.02 billion ounces, the Silver Institute said in a report earlier this year.
Gold has traditionally been recommended as an asset class that investors use for diversifying their investment portfolio. With silver prices moving similarly to that of gold, some money managers also advocate allocating around 5-10% of the total portfolio to silver.