Silver closes higher on safe haven demand

Silver prices rose Thursday amid a rise in safe haven demand, especially on precious metals as geopolitical fears and trade war continued.

An attack on two oil tankers was launched today in the Gulf of Oman, causing their explosion, while the United States blamed Iran and claimed its responsibility for the incident.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Iran against the continuation of what he described as hostile actions against the oil industry.

On the other hand, world markets are closely watching the G20 summit, to be launched later this month in Japan, in the presence of leaders from a number of countries.

A meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping is expected to discuss trade differences between the two countries.

Trump threatened to impose more tariffs if Xi Jinping did not attend the summit and seek a trade deal between Washington and Beijing.

On the other hand, at 19:40 GMT, the dollar index (against a number of major currencies) stabilized at 96.9 points, hitting a high of 97.08 and a low of 96.8.

Silver futures (July delivery) rose 0.9% to close at $14.892 an ounce, and the metal hit a high of $14.925 and a low of $14.72.