Silver price rebounds after global equity selloff

The price of silver for immediate delivery has rebounded after a retreat in global equities countered expectations of higher US lending costs.

Spot silver rose 0.7 percent to $17.62 as of 08:21 BST, gaining 12 cents after two days of declines, but is still on course for a fourth weekly retreat. On Monday, silver for immediate delivery reached a four-year trough of $17.34 in intraday trading, the lowest since July 2010. The precious metal has been trading 12.23 percent below its 200-day simple moving average of $19.92.

The price of silver for December delivery rose as well, after it reached a fresh four-year low of $17.27 yesterday. The contract is currently up 16 cents to $17.60 on the COMEX in New York as of 09:01 BST.

In the US, Wall Street suffered its worst daily loss in nearly two months. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.5 percent, the S&P 500 lost 1.6 percent and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.94 percent. The selloff came after data showed durable goods orders declined by 18.2 percent last month, the largest drop since the series started in 1992.

Asian equities also took a hit, with the Japanese Nikkei 225 benchmark falling one percent.

According to Hug, as the European Central Bank recently announced its plans for quantitative easing and Chinese officials add more stimulus, the global economy may improve enough to spur industrial demand for precious metals, which accounts for more than half of silver consumption, but only a small part of overall gold demand.