Silver enjoys brief strength

Silver made a surprise high yesterday, despite a steadying dollar and flat-trading gold price.

After falling to lows in December. silver was 9% in the week to $7.20 a troy ounce, gaining 24 cents in just one day’s trading.

Despite the sharp moves, without a rally on gold there is little market expectation of silver being able to sustain its recent increase in value over the coming weeks.