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Silver exchange-traded funds are not suffering to the same degree as ETFs backed by gold.
The largest silver fund – iShares Silver Trust (NYSEARCA:SLV) – increased its holdings by 144 tonnes on Wednesday.
The 1.4% rise in net holdings by the ETF brings the total tonnage to 10,428, the highest total since May and the best daily performance since January.
Gold ETFs in contrast continue to experience outflows. Last week gold-backed ETF holdings fell to the lowest levels since May 2010 with 653 tonnes worth of redemptions since December 2012.
“Silver has long been a favorite for smaller retail investors and speculators who want to gain exposure to gold at a fraction of the price. They also tend to buy and hold,” reports Reuters:
“Silver investors had been concerned about another leg down. Since we’ve had a few weeks of relative price stability, there is more confidence for them in making the switch back into the ETFs,” said Erica Rannestad, analyst at commodities research and consultant CPM Group.
In late afternoon trade on Wednesday an ounce of silver for delivery in September was changing hands at $20.26, up from multi-year lows of $18.17 struck less than a month ago, but still down 33% in 2013.
Silver came close to its all-time high set in 1980 amid the Hunt brothers market manipulation scandal, in April 2011 when it reached $49.76 an ounce.
Source: VisualCapitalist
Image by Joe Belanger
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Do these Silver ETF’s actually hold physical silver, audited by third parties. Or just the abilioty to buy if physical silver is requested. These commodity ETF’s have the potential to become scams if no one is watching.