Silver Prices Edge Lower Ahead of Federal Reserve Speakers
London (Mar 22) Silver prices traded lower on Wednesday, as investors turned their attention to an active second half of the week headlined by multiple speeches from Federal Reserve officials.
May silver futures fell 7 cents, or 0.4%, to $17.50 a troy ounce at 7:39 a.m. ET. Prices fluctuated within a daily range of $17.46 and $17.61 overnight.
The grey metal closed at two-week highs on Tuesday, as the U.S. dollar plunged to four-month lows against a basket of other major currencies. The dollar index was little changed Wednesday morning, trading at 99.85.
Gold futures also traded slightly lower on Wednesday, with the April contract slipping $1.20, or 0.1%, to $1,244.30 a troy ounce.
Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen will deliver an opening keynote address at the central bank’s Community Development Research Conference in Washington on Wednesday. Her comments will be closely monitored by the financial markets, which are still trying to determine the pace and timing of future rate adjustments.
On Thursday, Fed Bank of Minneapolis Neel Kashkari will give remarks at the same conference. Kashkari was the only member of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to vote against raising interest rates last week.
On Friday, Regional Fed president James Bullard (St. Louis), John Williams (San Francisco), Charles Evans (Chicago) and William Dudley (New York) will also be making the rounds.
U.S. equity futures were trading lower on Wednesday, pointing to a volatile start to the New York trading day. Equities declined sharply on Tuesday, as the so-called ‘Trump trade’ softened.
The S&P 500 Index settled at more than three-month lows. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged more than 200 points.
Source: EconomicCalendar
