Market Pulse Scope's North American silver series has fallen 7.7% in seven sessions to about $56 a troy ounce, the steepest weekly drop in the precious complex this year, after a hot US CPI repriced the Fed and lifted real yields.
Fatalities at Codelco's El Teniente added to a run of weather and labour disruptions in Chile, keeping copper close to last month's record near $15,000 a tonne, while Kazakhstan's central bank became a gold seller and steel demand was revised lower.
Copper closed the week 2% higher on the London Metal Exchange at $14,540 a tonne, supported by a six-week low in LME-registered stocks, a four-year high in a gauge of Chinese import demand and a widening strike at Antofagasta's Centinela mine in Chile.