Silver Price Analysis: XAG/USD sticks to strong gains above $23.00, eyes 100-day SMA

• Silver gains strong positive traction on Thursday and climbs back closer to the 100-day SMA barrier.
• The technical setup favours bullish traders and supports prospects for a further appreciating move.
• A sustained move and acceptance below $22.00 is needed to negate the near-term positive bias.

Silver (XAG/USD) builds on the overnight bounce from the 200-hour Simple Moving Average (SMA) support near the $22.75 area, or the weekly low and gains strong positive traction on Thursday. The momentum remains unabated through the first half of the European session and lifts the white metal to the $23.10-$23.15 region.

From a technical perspective, the XAG/USD is currently placed just below the 100-day SMA, which is closely followed by the very important 200-day SMA hurdle near the $23.30-$23.35 zone and the monthly peak, around mid-$23.00 touched last week. A sustained strength beyond the latter will be seen as a fresh trigger for bullish traders and pave the way for the resumption of last week's strong move up from sub-$22.00 levels.

Given that oscillators on the daily chart have just started gaining positive traction, the XAG/USD might then aim to reclaim the $24.00 round figure. The momentum could extend further and allow the white metal to climb towards the next relevant hurdle near the $24.50-$24.60 region en route to the $25.00 psychological mark.

On the flip side, the overnight swing low, around the $22.75 region, now seems to protect the immediate downside ahead of the mid-$22.00s and the $22.30 horizontal support. Some follow-through selling might expose the $22.00 mark. Acceptance below a two-month low, around the $21.90-$21.85 zone touched in January, will be seen as a fresh trigger for bearish traders and make the XAG/USD vulnerable to test the $21.40-$21.35 support.

The subsequent decline has the potential to drag the XAG/USD further below the $21.00 round-figure mark, towards retesting the October monthly swing low near the $20.70-$20.65 region.

Silver daily chart

Technical levels to watch