Silver looks set to outperform gold in the second half of the year as strong investment demand compensates for a slump in industrial demand, says Eugen Weinberg, commodities strategist at Commerzbank.

“Silver weakened in the second half of 2008 not only in absolute terms, but also relatively to gold as a result of its more widespread industrial use – but has recovered noticeably since the beginning of the year,” he said. “The price of silver is currently about 9.5 per cent higher than at the start of 2008.” By contrast, gold is slightly lower.