Silver hits all-time high at Rs 18,000

In 3-month period silver up 41%, gold 14%

Spot silver remained leading driver among the precious metals as speculators and funds continue to push prices, hitting all-time high at Rs 18,000 per kg in the domestic market and touching a fresh 22-year high of $12.21 per ounce on Friday in London. For the first three months of the current year gold prices are up 14%, while silver has seen a rise of 41 %.

Silver .999 price closed at Rs 18,095 per kg, a gain of Rs 225 per kilogram in Mumbai bullion market. Bullish silver still derives upside from SEC ruling on a silver exchanged traded fund (ETF), adding upside to all precious metals including silver to multi-year high.

The rise in silver prices, experts believe, is because silver is becoming a safe bet for investors. Traders attributed this rise to strong sentiment and chart-based momentum in gold, with stronger crude oil and recent dollar weakness.

On the Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX), July silver price slipped marginally to Rs 17,744 per kg from Rs 17,789 per kg which indicates that the price in future would see a correction, a trader said.

May silver also came marginally down to Rs 17,682 per kg from Rs 17,720 per kg on MCX. Volume for both the contracts remained thin on the exchange. Experts believe that the investors are attracted towards silver instead of gold and equities. Therefore, the prices of silver is peaking up now.

Prices of precious metals gold and silver climbed to the latest in a string of multi-decade highs in early Asian trading hours Friday, while base metal copper continued to trade into uncharted

territory. US exchange regulators last week issued partial approval of a silver ETF proposed by Barclays Plc. Anticipation of the extra demand created by the fund has helped lift silver prices almost 35% this year, after similar listed vehicles helped fuel gold's rally.

Gold 99.50 rose to cross Rs 8,665 per 10 gm (Mumbai) from Rs 8,665 and gold 99.90 was up by Rs 5 to close at Rs 8,715 per 10 gm from its precious close of Rs 8,715. Overseas spot prices touched a new 25-year high of $595.50 an ounce. In the three-month period gold 99.50 and gold 99.90 increased by Rs 1,045 per 10 gm and Rs 1,060 respectively.