Silver inched lower on Friday, dragging the price of white metal to less than $17.00 following the release of some key economic data from China. The technical bias remains bearish because of a lower low in the recent downside move.

Technical Analysis

As of this writing, the precious metal is being traded near $16.93. A support may be noted around $16.80, the trendline support area ahead of $16.73, the intraday low of yesterday and then $15.62, the swing low of the last major downside move as demonstrated in the given below daily chart.

On the upside, the precious metal is expected to face a hurdle near $17.32, the swing high of Wednesday ahead of $17.86, the 50% fib level and then $19.00, the confluence of psychological number as well as swing high of the last major upside rally. The technical bias shall remain bearish as long as the $19.00 resistance area is intact.

China’s GDP

China’s economy expanded 6.8% in the fourth quarter of 2016, the latest official data (link in Chinese) show. For the full year, China’s GDP grew 6.7%, the slowest in 26 years—but within the government’s target range of 6.5% to 7%. In each of the first three quarters of 2016, China posted a consistent 6.7% increase in GDP, raising doubts about the veracity of the figures. Earlier this week, local authorities in China’s northeastern Liaoning province admitted to inflating its GDP figures from 2011 to 2014, as officials sought to advance their careers.

Trade Idea

Considering the overall technical and fundamental outlook, selling the precious metal on a daily closing below the trendline support area appears to be a good strategy.