Investing.com - Silver futures tracked gold prices higher on Monday, as investors continued to speculate over how long the Federal Reserve will maintain the pace of its asset purchases.
Silver prices were supported by a slightly weaker U.S. dollar, as dollar-priced commodities become less expensive to investors holding other currencies when the greenback weakens.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.25% to trade at 83.10.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, silver futures for July delivery traded at USD22.40 a troy ounce during European morning trade, up 0.75% on the day.
Comex silver prices traded in a range between USD22.20 a troy ounce, the daily low and a session high of USD22.47 a troy ounce.
Silver prices were likely to find support at USD21.92 a troy ounce, the low from May 23 and resistance at USD23.12, the high from May 20.
Silver futures lost more than 2% on Friday after the University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index rose to 84.5 in May, its highest level since July 2007, from76.4 in April and up from a preliminary estimate of 83.7.
A separate report showed that manufacturing activity in the Chicago-area improved at the fastest pace in over a year last month.
Market research group Kingsbury International said its Chicago purchasing managers’ index jumped to a seasonally adjusted 58.7 in May from a reading of 49.0 in April. Analysts expected a reading of 50.3
The robust data bolstered expectations that the Federal Reserve could begin to scale back its USD85 billion a month asset purchase program this year.
Any improvement in the U.S. economy could scale back expectations for further easing from the Federal Reserve, weighing on dollar-denominated commodities.
Investors are now looking ahead to the release of a closely watched report on U.S. nonfarm payrolls on Friday for further hints regarding the direction of U.S. monetary policy.
Silver, like gold, can benefit from such an environment of easy money because of expectations that ample liquidity would put a damper on the value of paper currencies.
Elsewhere on the Comex, gold for August delivery added 0.4% to trade at USD1,398.15 a troy ounce, while copper for July delivery rallied 1.5% to trade at USD3.342 a pound.
Copper prices were boosted as stronger-than-expected Chinese manufacturing data bolstered demand for growth-linked assets.
Official data on Sunday showed that China’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index rose to 50.8 in May from 50.6 in April.
Earlier Monday, a separate report showed that China’s HSBC manufacturing PMI slid down to 49.2 in May, the lowest level since October 2012, from 49.6 in April.
Silver prices were supported by a slightly weaker U.S. dollar, as dollar-priced commodities become less expensive to investors holding other currencies when the greenback weakens.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.25% to trade at 83.10.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, silver futures for July delivery traded at USD22.40 a troy ounce during European morning trade, up 0.75% on the day.
Comex silver prices traded in a range between USD22.20 a troy ounce, the daily low and a session high of USD22.47 a troy ounce.
Silver prices were likely to find support at USD21.92 a troy ounce, the low from May 23 and resistance at USD23.12, the high from May 20.
Silver futures lost more than 2% on Friday after the University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index rose to 84.5 in May, its highest level since July 2007, from76.4 in April and up from a preliminary estimate of 83.7.
A separate report showed that manufacturing activity in the Chicago-area improved at the fastest pace in over a year last month.
Market research group Kingsbury International said its Chicago purchasing managers’ index jumped to a seasonally adjusted 58.7 in May from a reading of 49.0 in April. Analysts expected a reading of 50.3
The robust data bolstered expectations that the Federal Reserve could begin to scale back its USD85 billion a month asset purchase program this year.
Any improvement in the U.S. economy could scale back expectations for further easing from the Federal Reserve, weighing on dollar-denominated commodities.
Investors are now looking ahead to the release of a closely watched report on U.S. nonfarm payrolls on Friday for further hints regarding the direction of U.S. monetary policy.
Silver, like gold, can benefit from such an environment of easy money because of expectations that ample liquidity would put a damper on the value of paper currencies.
Elsewhere on the Comex, gold for August delivery added 0.4% to trade at USD1,398.15 a troy ounce, while copper for July delivery rallied 1.5% to trade at USD3.342 a pound.
Copper prices were boosted as stronger-than-expected Chinese manufacturing data bolstered demand for growth-linked assets.
Official data on Sunday showed that China’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index rose to 50.8 in May from 50.6 in April.
Earlier Monday, a separate report showed that China’s HSBC manufacturing PMI slid down to 49.2 in May, the lowest level since October 2012, from 49.6 in April.