Silver opened the week solidly in the $20 arena after last week’s gains. Silver prices had gained 1% since the close of last week to touch $20.65 per ounce.
The price of silver largely followed gold prices this week, and posted gains Tuesday despite struggling oil prices and a stronger dollar. Silver reached a four-week high at $20.78 per ounce.
The main economic drivers this week were central bank policies and jobs reports: the Bank of Japan injected billions of dollars of stimulus money into the economy on Tuesday; the Bank of England adjusted interest rates for the first time in 7 years on Thursday, lowering rates by 0.25%; two positive jobs reports out of the U.S. showed better-than-expected employment rates for June and July.
Silver maintained a generally steady range until the jobs report released on Friday, then fell to close around $19.70 per ounce. The gold to silver ratio closed at 67.65 on Friday, the highest since July 8, after a general trend of dropping lower.