Investing.com - Silver futures erased earlier losses to rise 1% on Thursday, as the dollar came off the highest levels of the session following the release of unexpectedly strong manufacturing data out of the euro zone and China. Ongoing uncertainty over whether the Federal Reserve will soon begin tapering its bong-buying program continued to weigh on sentiment. On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, silver futures for September delivery traded at USD23.19 a troy ounce during European morning trade, up 1%. The September contract settled down 0.5% at USD22.96 a troy ounce on Wednesday. Silver prices were likely to find support at USD22.29 a troy ounce, the low from August 20 and resistance at USD23.60, the high from August 19 and a three-month high. Silver futures turned higher as the euro rose to the highest levels of the session against the U.S. dollar after data out of the euro zone fuelled optimism over the region’s economic outlook. The flash euro zone manufacturing purchasing managers’ index rose to 51.3 in August from a final reading of 50.3 in July. Analysts had expected the index to inch up to 50.8. Meanwhile, the flash euro zone services PMI rose to a 24-month high of 51.0 from 49.8 in July, better than expectations for a reading of 50.2. “So far, the third quarter is shaping up to be the best that the euro area has seen in terms of business growth since the spring of 2011�, Chris Williamson, Chief Economist at survey compiler Markit said. Germany’s manufacturing PMI rose to a 25 month high of 52.0, while the services PMI rose to a six-month high of 52.4. Also Thursday, data out of China eased concerns over a slowdown in the world’s second largest economy. The preliminary reading of China’s HSBC manufacturing PMI rose to a four-month high of 50.1 in August, up from 47.7 in July. Economists had forecast a reading of 48.3. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.15% to trade at 81.47, trimming an earlier gain of as much as 0.3%. Dollar-denominated silver futures contracts tend to rise when the dollar weakens, as this makes silver cheaper for buyers in other currencies. Silver prices were lower on Wednesday after the minutes of the Fed’s July meeting showed that officials were "broadly comfortable" with plans to scale back the bank’s USD85 billion-a-month stimulus program. However, policymakers remain divided over the timing of possible reduction, with almost all committee members agreeing that a change in the asset purchase program was not yet appropriate. Moves in the silver price this year have largely tracked shifting expectations as to whether the U.S. central bank would end its quantitative easing program sooner-than-expected. Silver traders are now looking ahead to the release of weekly U.S. data on initial jobless claims later in the day. Market participants have closely been looking out for U.S. data reports recently to gauge if they will strengthen or weaken the case for the Fed to reduce its bond purchases. Any improvement in the U.S. economy was likely to reinforce the view that the central bank will begin to taper its bond purchase program in the coming months. Elsewhere on the Comex, gold for December delivery inched up 0.1% to trade at USD1,371.00 a troy ounce, while copper for September rallied 1.8% to trade at USD3.365 a pound.

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