Silver settles higher, but logs weekly loss

Silver prices rose on Friday, shaking off a robust US dollar and a surge in the US stock market, amid widespread optimism about the initial trade deal with China, but silver posted a weekly loss.

During this week precious metals, including silver, came under the pressure strong market sentiment that followed the US President "Donald Trump" and Chinese Vice Premier "Liu He" signing on the phase-one of the trade agreement.

Trade tensions and escalation between the world's two largest economies that took almost 18 months eased after the signing, which was reflected on stock markets jump to fresh all-time highs.

The dollar index rose against a basket of major currencies by 0.3% to 97.6 points as of 20:38 GMT, after hitting a day high of 97.6 and a low of 97.2.

Silver futures for March delivery rose by 0.8% to close at $18.073 an ounce, but posted 0.2% weekly loss, with today's high at $18.185 and a low of $17.905.