Silver futures are poised to endure their worst week since the mid 1970s, Bloomberg reports.
One week ago, silver futures were just short of $50 per troy ounce and on the brink of pushing beyond the record price of $50.35 per troy ounce, which was set in January 1980. And one analyst did not rule out the downward spiral continuing.
"The higher cash-margin requirements simply cannot be met by all participants, and when a trader can't make margin, the underlying security is often liquidated," according to a note from Lachlan Shaw, a commodity analyst at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. "Further silver price falls are possible."
At 11:48 a.m. on Friday, silver futures were down 0.57 percent, a 0.205 dip to $36.035 per troy ounce.
Silver's travels are representative of a larger slump in commodities, which has spurred investors to sell precious metals. Since notching 31-year highs of $49.845 on April 25, silver futures have lost 30 percent of their value. Thus far this week, the precious metal has dropped 28 percent.
When silver futures notched record highs of $50.35 in January 1980, the next four months saw the precious metal plunge in value to less than $11 per troy ounce.
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