ND:Silver futures edge lower but remain near 3-week high
Investing.com - Silver prices edged lower on Wednesday, as investors locked in gains from the previous session's 3% rally which took prices to the highest level in three weeks.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, silver futures for March delivery traded at USD20.27 a troy ounce during European morning trade, down 0.2%. Comex silver prices held in a range between USD20.22 a troy ounce and USD20.41.
The March contract rallied to USD20.43 a troy ounce on Tuesday, the highest since November 20, before settling at USD20.31, up 3.12%.
Futures were likely to find support at USD19.74 a troy ounce, the low from December 10 and near-term resistance at USD20.48, the high from November 20.
Silver prices rallied along with gold on Tuesday as the U.S. dollar weakened amid doubts over whether the Federal Reserve will start to reduce stimulus measures at next week's policy meeting.
The central bank is scheduled to meet December 17-18 to review the economy and assess monetary policy.
Silver is down approximately 34% this year as solid U.S. economic data underlined expectations the Fed will begin curbing stimulus.
Meanwhile, U.S. lawmakers reached a budget agreement on Tuesday, averting a potential U.S. government shutdown which was scheduled to start on January 15.
Senate Democrats and Republicans agreed on a deal to reduce automatic spending cuts and provide USD23 billion in deficit reduction spread over two years.
Elsewhere on the Comex, gold for February delivery shed 0.5% to trade at USD1,254.90 a troy ounce. On Tuesday, gold rallied to USD1,267.50 a troy ounce, the highest since November 20, before settling at USDUSD1,261.10, up 2.18%.
Meanwhile, copper for March delivery inched up 0.15% to trade at USD3.271 a pound.
Copper traders awaited updates from China's annual Central Economic Work Conference, which began on Tuesday, where policymakers will set economic growth targets and policy priorities for 2014.
The Asian nation is the world's largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption last year.
