Silver price marches past $34 on renewed trade tensions

Silver prices marched past the $34-an-ounce mark on Monday as market sentiment soured over the weekend in the wake of renewed US-China trade tensions.

Spot silver traded as high as $34.31 per ounce during the session, for a gain of more than 4%. Comex silver futures also rose 4.5% to $34.51 an ounce.

Driving the rally were heavy inflows into hard assets as the markets digested a potential re-escalation in Sino-American conflicts, which began last week when US President Donald Trump claimed China had violated their trade truce.

Beijing later denied Trump’s accusations, stating it was Washington that provoked frictions between the world’s two superpowers by reneging on their previous agreement.

The dragged-out trade dispute boosted the appeal for safe havens including silver, which has gained about 19% so far this year.