Silver, base metals higher

Silver prices were up above $10 per troy ounce for the second day in a row on Friday, hitting a high of $10.31 per troy ounce before easing back to $10.16. That was a loss of 4 cents from Thursday’s late quote in New York, but still was the first time that silver had remained above $10 for two days in a row in 22 years. The price of silver was boosted early in the week by a strike at the Fresnillo mine in Mexico, and the fact that the action only lasted one day did not make prices back off later on.

Gold lost $1 on Friday to trade at $567.20/$568.10 in late afternoon trade in London. However, it was still very close to its 25-year high, reached last month, after coming within $5 of that level on Thursday.

Base metals prices were up on the week, with three-month aluminium gaining 2 percent over the week to trade at $2,477 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange. Meanwhile, three-month copper neared the $5,000 per tonne level, gaining over $100 to $4,967 per tonne at the end of the week.