Silver Prices Log Annual Gain for 2012

Silver prices traded higher on the last day of 2012, capping an annual increase despite plunging in December and the quarter.

On Monday, silver futures for March delivery turned up 25.2 cents, or 0.8%, to settle at $30.23 an ounce on the Comex in New York. Silver prices declined 9.2% in December.

Silver in 2012 gained $2.31, or 8.3%. Two strong quarters buoyed silver prices for the year. The four quarterly breakdowns are:

Q1 2012: Silver added 16.4%

Q2 2012: Silver fell 1.1%

Q3 2012: Silver gained 25.2%

Q4 2012: Silver lost 12.6%

For a perspective on the latest annual gain, silver prices in 2011 dropped 9.8% but soared 83.7% in 2010.

In other New York precious metals futures on Monday and for the year:

February gold futures prices closed at $1,675.80 an ounce for an annual increase of 7.0%

April platinum futures prices settled to $1,542.40 an ounce, leading precious metals with a 2012 pick-up of 9.8%

March palladium futures prices closed at $703.35 an ounce for an annual gain of 7.2%

Also on Monday, the London silver Fix ended 2012 at $29.95 an ounce, posting an annual increase of $1.77, or 6.3%. The following table lists London silver prices with net and percentage changes through the last 12 years.

2000-2012 London Silver Prices and Annual Gains and Losses Year Price $ Annual Gain % Annual Gain 2000 $4.58 2001 $4.52 -$0.06 -1.20% 2002 $4.67 $0.15 3.21% 2003 $5.97 $1.30 27.87% 2004 $6.77 $0.81 13.50% 2005 $8.83 $2.06 30.43% 2006 $12.90 $4.07 46.09% 2007 $14.76 $1.86 14.42% 2008 $10.79 -$3.97 -26.90% 2009 $16.99 $6.20 57.46% 2010 $30.63 $13.64 80.28% 2011 $28.18 -$2.45 -8.00% 2012 $29.95 $1.77 6.28%

In other London precious metals fixings on Monday and for the year, gold at $1,664 an ounce gained 5.7% in 2012, platinum at $1,523 an ounce surged 10.3% since the end of 2011 and palladium at $699 an ounce surged 9.9% in 2012.