Silver heads for hefty weekly losses on Chinese demand concerns

Silver prices rose in European trade on Friday for the first session in eight says on short-covering off two-week lows.

The white metal is heading for the largest weekly loss in three months as the Chinese economy faces obstacles, in turn hurting demand on metals.

Prices Today

Silver prices rose 0.9% to $23.17 an ounce, with a session-low at $22.95 an ounce, after falling 0.9% on Thursday, the seventh loss in a row, plumbing a two-week low at $22.84 following strong US data.

Silver has thus marked the longest streak of daily losses since April 2022, due to dollar's strength, US yields, and weak demand on non-yielding assets. 

Weekly Trades

Silver prices are down 4.5% so far this week, on track for the second weekly loss in a row, and the largest since June.

Chinese Economy

Recent Chinese data indicates the economy will struggle for some time to come despite recent official stimulus measures.

China's services sector slowed down in August as consumer spending and demand dropped, while Chinese exports were in the red for the fourth straight month.

Such a stream of negative data raises concerns about the sharp downturn of growth in the current third quarter, in turn hurting demand on something like silver.