Silver Price Analysis: XAG/USD returns above mid-19.00s; bulls flirt with 100-day Simple Moving Average

Silver rises on Tuesday's rebound from the 200-hour simple moving average support and adds follow-through momentum for the second consecutive day on Wednesday. The upward move takes the precious metal back over the mid-$19.00 range during the early European session, bringing it closer to Monday's nearly two-week high.

The XAG/USD is currently flirting with the 100-day simple moving average (SMA), which, if decisively broken, would open the way for a near-term advance. In the meantime, oscillators on hourly charts remain bullish and have only begun to move into the positive zone on the daily chart. This, in turn, increases the likelihood of a future breach of the aforementioned barrier.

The XAG/USD pair might then attempt to exceed the $20.00 psychological level and climb toward the next significant barrier near $20.50. Bulls might then attempt to retake the $21.00 round-number level. This corresponds to the 200-day exponential moving average, above which the momentum might finally drive spot prices back to the monthly swing high, around $21.25.

On the other hand, the $19.20 region appears to protect the immediate downside ahead of the $19.00 level and the 200-hour simple moving average, which is currently in the $18.80 zone. A convincing breach below could prompt some technical selling and make the XAG/USD susceptible to accelerate the decline towards the $18.30-$18.25 intermediate support en route to the next crucial level near $18.00.

Failure to defend the latter will nullify any near-term bullish bias and return the bias to favor bearish traders. The continuing decline has the potential to bring the XAG/USD pair closer to its September low of $17.55 for the year. The decline might extend to the next significant support near the $17.00 round-number mark.