Silver (XAG/USD) attracts some buyers for the second successive day on Wednesday and sticks to its modest intraday gains through the early European session. The white metal, however, remains below the $24.00 mark, or the weekly high touched on Tuesday, which coincides with a downward-sloping trend line extending from the May swing high and should now act as a key pivotal point.
From a technical perspective, the recent breakout through the very important 200-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) barrier favours bullish traders. Moreover, oscillators on the daily chart are holding in the positive territory and are still far from being in the overbought zone. This, in turn, suggests that the path of least resistance for the XAG/USD is to the upside and supports prospects for a further appreciating move.
Bulls, however, need to wait for a move beyond the downward-sloping trend line resistance near the $24.00 mark before placing fresh bets. The XAG/USD might then surpass the $24.20-$24.25 intermediate hurdle and make a fresh attempt to conquer the $25.00 psychological mark. Some follow-through buying beyond the $25.15-$25.20 region will set the stage for a move towards reclaiming the $26.00 mark for the first time since May.
On the flip side, the 200-day SMA, currently pegged near the $23.30 region, might continue to protect the immediate downside. Any subsequent slide could attract fresh buyers and is more likely to remain limited near the $23.00 mark. A convincing break below the latter, however, might prompt aggressive technical selling and drag the XAG/USD further towards the $22.35-$22.30 zone en route to the $22.00 mark.
