UNITED STATES March 21 2016 8:08 AM     

NEW YORK (Scrap Register): Silver has been outperforming  gold lately, causing a decline in the gold-silver ratio, said analysts at HSBC  and Commerzbank.

This ratio measures how many ounces of silver it takes  to buy an ounce of gold. Early Friday, Comex May silver hit a high of $16.17 an  ounce that was its most muscular level since October. Silver has been helped  lately by dollar weakness and improvement in industrial base metals, said  Commerzbank.

“Because silver has noticeably outperformed gold of late,  the gold-silver ratio has decreased from almost 84 at the end of last month to a  good 78, its lowest level since early February,” Commerzbank added.

As  of HSBC report, the ratio was at 79. “We think it may narrow further, implying  that silver will gain on gold,” HSBC says.

“Up to now, silver failed to  keep up with the gold rally. Part of this may be due to producers streaming or  selling silver forward to raise cash. This increase may have weighed on prices.  Longer term, this may be positive because future production has already been  sold. Also silver coin and bars are becoming increasingly competitive with gold  coins and bars and may see greater demand,” analysts at HSBC added.