Gold lifted by physical bar demand but silver relatively weak

Gold/silver market update for Wednesday, April 24th. Gold is edging up over 1% in midweek trading on the heels of record physical demand. Demand for physical coins and bars has been so high, the U.S. Mint announced temporary suspension of its 1/10-oz Gold Eagle. Reports from India, China and the Middle East also confirm record demand with premiums holding multi-year highs. Silver though still struggles in the $23 range and hasn’t been able to rally off its lows like gold. This has led to a increase in the gold:silver ratio to above 60 for the first time since Sept. 2010. According to Commerzbank, silver’s relative weakness “…is thus more likely attributable to weaker industrial demand, which accounts for more than 50% of fabrication demand.” Like gold, physical silver has seen skyrocketing demand, especially in the last couple of weeks. This however hasn’t been enough for the metal to recover to its pre-slump level. Read more…