IV:Silver futures move higher on stimulus hopes, China GDP data
Investing.com - Silver futures edged modestly higher in rangebound trade on Monday, after official data showed that China’s economy grew in line with market expectations in the second quarter.
The precious metal remained support as fears of an imminent winding down of the Federal Reserve's monetary stimulus eased for now.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, silver futures for September delivery traded at USD19.93 a troy ounce during European morning trade, up 0.3% on the day.
Comex silver prices held in a range between USD19.80 a troy ounce, the daily low and a session high of USD20.13 a troy ounce.
Silver prices were likely to find support at USD18.98 a troy ounce, the low from July 10 and resistance at USD21.23, the high from June 20.
Official data showed that Chinese gross domestic product expanded 7.5% in the second quarter from a year earlier, following growth of 7.7% in the three months to March and in line with expectations.
Separate reports showed that Chinese retail sales rose to13.3% on a year-over-year basis in June, up from 12.9% in May, while industrial production declined to 8.9% in June from 9.2% the previous month.
Investors now looked ahead to the release of U.S. retail sales data later in the day to further gauge the strength of the U.S. economy and the direction of U.S. monetary policy.
Silver prices rallied 5.2% last week after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank will continue to maintain accommodative monetary policy for the foreseeable future.
Bernanke is due to testify to Congress on Wednesday and Thursday.
Silver prices are on track to post a loss of almost 33% on the year, amid speculation the Fed will start to unwind its bond purchasing program in the coming months.
Moves in the silver price this year have largely tracked shifting expectations as to whether the U.S. central bank would end its bond-buying program sooner-than-expected.
Elsewhere on the Comex, gold for August delivery advanced 0.5% to trade at USD1,284.25 a troy ounce, while copper for September delivery shed 0.3% to trade at USD3.144 a pound.
China is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption last year.
