Gold shines, but silver dulls in IFSL report

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Gold will continue to remain the preferred precious metal while changes in underlying demand could see silver's status downgraded to an industrial metal, says research from International Financial Services London (IFSL).

Although demand for silver increased in the 1990s, it has now abated, IFSL says, and even though overall demand has doubled in the past 15 years, the metal’s value as an investment has declined. At the same time, industrial demand for silver is being hit by the change to digital imaging, as silver is no longer required as an ingredient in making film for cameras. Gold, by contrast is in much demand not only by investors and industry, but still holds high cultural status, for example in relation to weddings in India, which partly explains why that country is the biggest consumer of gol...

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