What's next for silver prices

"The additional platform for trading silver in China could well have rekindled investor interest, offering the possibility of arbitrage opportunities..." Silver prices got a boost yesterday (Wednesday), giving brief relief to their three-month downtrend. The white metal rose on short covering and bargain hunting purchases. As gold touched on a new low for the year before rebounding, silver closed in on $27.983 for the July contract, up 19.2 cents. But silver prices have dropped in 16 of the last 21 trading sessions through Wednesday. So why the volatility? Here's what's weighing on silver - and why a price rally is still to come. Bears are out It hasn't been a pretty marketplace and as we enter the summer months. We've seen Facebook fall flat with its IPO, questioned whether Greece will leave the eurozone and asked if Spain is in more serious trouble than initially thought. The troubles have weighed on silver prices. Silver spiked to over $35 an ounce in late February, but has since slipped back near $28 an ounce, where it started the year. Just in the last month, the Global X Silver Miners ETF SIL Stock Forum) has fallen almost 19%. The month isn't quite over yet and there are still hurdles for silver prices to face. The U.S. economic growth numbers just released Thursday showed first-quarter growth slowed to 1.9%, down from a previous estimate of 2.2%. The latest U.S. employment numbers will be released Friday. Continue reading this story here.