Silver Retreats From Spring Highs

After charging to near $6 in May, the price of silver has slid back toward $5 an ounce.

Silver closed Wednesday up 1.6 cents at $5.03 after losing 26 cents in Friday’s New York Comex trading session.

“I haven’t really seen any other factors beyond the technical ones to explain the recent weakness,” said analyst Jeffery Christian of the CPM Group Ltd. in New York.

Traders on the silver futures market are “shorting” the metal, or hoping that it falls in price. Trading has also been light, which also contributes to a decline.

Silver edged over $6 an ounce briefly on May 4. Higher silver prices could lead to the reopening of several Silver Valley mines, meaning hundreds of high-paying jobs for the depressed towns there.

Christian said he expects traders to move the market below $5 an ounce next week, but expects that prices should rebound toward the end of July.

, DataTimes