Silver Hovering Close to $18.00 After Roller-Coaster Week

Silver has started the week with slight losses, erasing most of the gains seen on Friday. Currently, silver is trading at $17.95, down $0.14 or 0.81% on the day.

Silver Retracts, Falls Below 18.00

Last week’s dramatic events in the Middle East triggered sharp volatility in silver prices. On Wednesday, silver prices climbed 4.3 percent after Iran launched missile attacks on two U.S. military bases in Iraq. However, the Iranian attack appeared calculated to avoid U.S. casualties and caused minimal damage. Investors took this as a signal that Iran was ready to de-escalate the situation, after saving face with an attack against U.S. forces. Silver prices responded by falling back below the 18.00 level, which has psychological significance.

Silver Rises After U.S Job Numbers Slip

The U.S. labor market has been a key pillar in the strong U.S. economy, but December employment numbers, released on Friday, were a major disappointment. Nonfarm payrolls dropped sharply to 145 thousand, compared to 266 thousand a month earlier. This missed the estimate of 162 thousand. Wage growth fell by 0.1% to 2.9%, its lowest level since July 2018. Despite all the talk about a ‘tight’ labor market, weaker real wages will likely translate into reduced consumer spending, which could spell trouble for economic growth in 2020.

The weak numbers weighed on investor risk appetite and boosted silver on Friday, which crossed above the symbolic 18.00 level. However, silver was unable to consolidate these gains and finds itself again looking upwards towards the 18.00 line on Monday.