Silver Cost Shift, Snapping Four-Day Leading Dash

Silver Cost Shift, Snapping Four-Day Leading Dash

Silver prices declined in lockstep with other precious metals on Tuesday, as election uncertainty in France and the United Kingdom weighed on investors’ sentiment after the Easter long weekend.May silver futures fell 10 cents, or 0.6%, to $18.41 a troy ounce at 7:46 a.m. ET. Prices were down as much as 1% earlier in the session.The decline snapped a four-day winning streak for the grey metal that had pushed prices to five-month highs.Gold futures also softened Tuesday, with the June contract declining $5.00, or 0.4%, to $1,287.00 a troy ounce. Bullion approached $1,300.00 a troy ounce at the start of the week before reversing course.European stocks sold off after the Easter long weekend, with commodity shares struggling the most ahead of France’s presidential election on Sunday. Latest polls show a four-way race, an almost sure sign that a second round of voting will be required next month.British stocks were down 1.7% after Prime Minister Theresa May announced a snap election in June. The surprise announcement is aimed at strengthening her party’s mandate going into negotiation on leaving the European Union (EU). The statement came less than a month after the U.K. triggered Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which formally kicked off the Brexit process.The British pound rose 0.9% against the dollar to reach 1.2676 U.S.The dollar was down 0.3% against a basket of other major currencies.U.S. equity futures were trading slightly lower in the pre-market, pointing to a soft start to the day on Wall Street. U.S. stocks roared back on Monday, with the S&P 500 Index climbing 0.9%.