IV:Silver futures fall to 3-week low amid Fed taper speculation
Investing.com - Silver prices fell to a three-week low on Monday, amid ongoing expectations the Federal Reserve will begin unwinding its stimulus program by the end of the year.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, silver futures for December delivery traded at USD21.26 a troy ounce during European morning trade, down 0.3%.
Silver prices fell to a session low of USD21.23 a troy ounce earlier, the weakest level since October 17. The December contract ended 1.57% lower to settle at USD21.31 a troy ounce on Friday.
Futures were likely to find support at USD21.10 a troy ounce, the low from October 17 and resistance at USD21.89, the high from November 8.
Silver prices tumbled on Friday after official data showed that the U.S. economy added 204,000 jobs in October, much more than the 125,000 increase forecast by economists.
The robust data added to ongoing speculation that the Fed may start to scale back its USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program as soon as next month.
Silver futures are down approximately 30% this year on concerns the Fed will begin cutting back its easy-money policy sooner-than-expected.
Prices of the precious metal have largely tracked shifting expectations as to whether the Fed would start tapering its USD85-billion-a-month asset-purchase program by the end of the year.
Elsewhere on the Comex, gold for December delivery dipped 0.4% to trade at USD1,279.10 a troy ounce, while copper for December added 0.35% to trade at USD3.265 a pound.
Copper prices were higher after data released over the weekend showed that Chinese industrial output rose more-than-forecast in October, while consumer price inflation inched up modestly.
Industrial production rose 10.3% last month, beating expectations for a 10.0% increase, while CPI inched up to 3.2% from 3.1% in September.
China is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption last year.