• Silver continues losing ground for the third straight day and drops to over a one-week low.
• The technical setup favours bears and supports prospects for a further depreciating move.
• A sustained strength beyond the 200-day SMA is needed to negate the negative outlook.

Silver (XAG/USD) drifts lower for the third successive day on Friday – also marking the fourth day of a negative move in the previous five – and drops to over a one-week low during the first half of the European session. The white metal currently trades around the $22.65-$22.60 region and seems vulnerable to prolong this week's pullback from over a one-month top.

The recent failure to find acceptance above a technically significant 200-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) and the subsequent downfall validates the near-term negative outlook for the XAG/USD. Furthermore, oscillators on the daily chart have just started gaining negative traction and suggest that the path of least resistance for the white metal is to the downside.

From current levels, weakness below the mid-$22.00s has the potential to drag the XAG/USD to the $22.30 horizontal support. Some follow-through selling might expose the two-month low, around the $21.90-$21.85 zone touched in January. Acceptance below the latter will be seen as a fresh trigger for bearish traders and make the XAG/USD vulnerable to test the $21.40-$21.35 area.

On the flip side, the daily swing high, around the $22.85 region, now seems to act as an immediate hurdle ahead of the $23.00 round-figure mark. A sustained strength beyond the latter could lift the XAG/USD to the 200-day SMA, currently near the $23.30 zone. This is followed by the monthly peak, around mid-$23.00s, which if cleared will negate the negative outlook.

The XAG/USD might then aim to reclaim the $24.00 round figure. The momentum could extend further and allow the white metal to climb towards the next relevant hurdle near the $24.50-$24.60 region en route to the $25.00 psychological mark