IV:Silver futures rise as U.S. government begins shutdown
Investing.com - Silver futures were higher on Tuesday, after the U.S. Congress failed to reach an agreement on a budget for the next fiscal year, leading to the first government shutdown in 17 years.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, silver futures for December delivery traded at USD21.86 a troy ounce during European morning trade, up 0.7%.
Silver prices rose by as much as 1.2% earlier in the day to hit a session high of USD21.96 a troy ounce. The December contract ended down 0.55% on Monday to settle at USD21.70 a troy ounce.
Silver prices were likely to find support at USD21.22 a troy ounce, the low from September 18 and resistance at USD23.07, the high from September 20.
The U.S. government began a partial shutdown after lawmakers failed to reach an agreement on a new budget before Monday's midnight deadline. It is the first government shutdown in the U.S. since 1996.
Lawmakers are expected to continue negotiating a funding measure later in the day in hopes of reaching a compromise.
Republicans have insisted on delaying the implementation of President Obama's health care reforms as a condition for passing the budget.
Later this month, Congress will have to extend the U.S. debt ceiling which the U.S. Treasury Department has estimated will be reached by October 17.
Moody's Investors Service warned that a failure to raise the debt limit would result in a worse outcome for financial markets than a government shutdown.
Meanwhile, in China, government data released earlier in the day showed that the nation’s official manufacturing purchasing managers' index inched up to 51.1 in September from 51.0 in August, missing forecasts for 51.5.
The disappointing data indicated that the recovery in the world’s second largest economy remains fragile.
Elsewhere on the Comex, gold for December delivery rose 0.45% to trade at USD1,332.70 a troy ounce, while copper for December added 0.15% to trade at USD3.327 a pound.
