UNITED STATES April 13 2016 11:26 PM

NEW YORK (Scrap Register): HSBC looks for the gold/silver ratio to narrow further, which would mean silver is outperforming. The ratio measures how many ounces of silver it takes to buy an ounce of gold. 

Comex May silver rose Tuesday even as June gold eased slightly, and silver has posted a smaller percentage decline so far Wednesday. 

“We believe that retail demand for coins and small bars and light institutional buying in the paper markets has boosted silver,” HSBC says in a late-Tuesday research note. 

“Some near-term players are focusing on the gold-silver ratio, which is back below 1:78. We think the ratio will narrow further as price sensitive buyers, who want to participate in precious metals, turn more to silver.” 

As of 9:11 a.m. EDT, spot gold was around $1,247.25 an ounce and spot silver was around $16.19, meaning a gold-silver ratio of 1:77.