Silver prices spiked after retail sites were overwhelmed with demand for bars and coins at the weekend. Comments on Reddit forum r/WallStreetBets suggested people buy exchange-traded funds linked to the metal because prices have been kept artificially low.
“You have a number of players out there who are finding hedge funds and others with short positions and they’re corralling thousands of investors to squeeze them out,” Scott Crowe, chief investment officer at Centersquare Investment Management LLC, said on Bloomberg TV. “I caution the thinking that this is just a one-off — we are already talking about silver this morning.”
Meantime, 10 Republican senators have proposed an alternative plan for Covid-19 stimulus costing about $600 billion. On the virus front, infections continued to show a slowing trend across some regions of the world, including in the U.S., though concerns remain about new variants.
Why silver prices are rising today?
Silver prices in Indian markets rising today as global rates rallied amid a GameStop-style squeeze. On MCX silver futures surged 6% or ₹4,200 to ₹73,888 per kg, extending the 3-day gains to ₹7,500 in domestic markets. Silver prices on MCX had posted gains of 3.2% or ₹2,170 per kg on Friday. Despite the recent gains, silver prices are still down about ₹6,000 from their all-time highs of about ₹80,000 hit in August last year.
Commodities
- Silver futures rose 6.9% to $28.77.
- West Texas Intermediate crude added 0.3% to $52.37 a barrel.
- Gold rose 0.8% to $1,861.44 an ounce.
These are some key events coming up:
- Earnings season is full steam ahead as companies report results, including Alibaba, GlaxoSmithKline, Ferrari, Exxon Mobil, BNP Paribas and Yum! Brands.
- The Reserve Bank of Australia’s policy decision comes Tuesday.
- Wednesday sees the EIA crude oil inventory report.
- The Bank of England sets rates on Thursday and an Indian central bank policy decision comes then too.
- The U.S. January payrolls report is due Friday, providing a first look at hiring in 2021.
