{"id":106007,"date":"2021-02-01T15:08:31","date_gmt":"2021-02-01T15:08:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=106007"},"modified":"2021-02-01T15:08:31","modified_gmt":"2021-02-01T15:08:31","slug":"silver-scales-8-year-peak-as-investors-keep-up-feverish-buying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/silver-scales-8-year-peak-as-investors-keep-up-feverish-buying\/","title":{"rendered":"Silver scales 8-year peak as investors keep up feverish buying"},"content":{"rendered":"
(Reuters) – Silver extended its blistering rally for a third session on Monday, soaring as much as 11.2% to a near eight-year peak as retail investors piled into the metal in a frenzy kicked off by U.S. social media users last week.<\/p> Spot silver was up 9.4% at $29.53 an ounce by 1418 GMT, having earlier hit its highest since February 2013 at $30.03.<\/p>\n Silver has gained nearly 19% since Thursday when posts began circulating on Reddit urging small investors to buy silver mining stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETF) backed by physical silver bars in a bid to replicate a squeeze on GameStop.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard to say how far this can go. It\u2019s all about momentum; if the futures market also gets behind this move, they could add fuel to the fire, so the New York open would be very interesting,\u201d said Ross Norman, an independent analyst.<\/p>\n Commerzbank analyst Eugen Weinberg said in a note that in the medium term, any excessive price rise is harmful for silver as it can damage physical demand.<\/p>\n Silver ETFs and mutual funds saw their biggest inflows in five months in January, Refinitiv Lipper data showed.<\/p>\n Holdings in iShares Silver Trust ETF, the largest silver-backed ETF, jumped by a record 37 million shares from Thursday to Friday alone, each representing an ounce of silver.<\/p>\n Spot gold jumped 1% to $1,864.01 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures rose 0.9% to $1,866.90.<\/p>\n Experts caution that gold\u2019s relatively subdued performance suggests silver\u2019s rally may not last long. An ounce of gold currently buys 63.2 ounces of silver, versus 73.3 ounces on Jan. 25.<\/p>\n The market attention silver is receiving \u201chighlights silver\u2019s historically low price vs. gold\u201d, said Gregor Gregersen, founder of Silver Bullion Pte Ltd, calling the recent retail frenzy a \u201cwelcome demand catalyst.\u201d<\/p>\n Platinum gained 3.9% to $1,114.09 and palladium rose 1.4% to $2,256.29.<\/p>\n