Silver price trades in narrow range as markets eye Fed statement

Silver’s price has traded in a tight range in today’s trading so far, holding on to most of its gains from the previous session. Market focus now turns to the end of the Fed’s two-day monetary policy meeting amid signs that a slowdown in the global economy has been hampering US growth.

Silver for immediate delivery had declined two cents, or 0.12 percent, to $18.01 as of 06:28 GMT, and was trading 8.5 percent above its 50-day simple moving average of $16.59. Yesterday the precious metal settled 0.9 percent up following a volatile trading session after an unexpected fall in US durable-goods orders hit stocks and triggered demand for havens.
Yesterday, the US Department of Commerce said orders for durable goods dropped 3.4 percent last month, while economists had expected an increase of 0.1 percent. Furthermore the figure for November was revised down to show a 2.1 percent decline, versus an initial estimate of a 0.9 percent fall.

According to a note from ANZ cited by Bloomberg: “Mixed US data is raising concerns that weaker foreign economies are weighing on US growth and may prompt the Federal Reserve to delay interest rate increases”.
The markets will now be eyeing the release of a statement from the Federal Open Market Committee, due at 19:00 GMT, which marks the end of the Fed’s two-day monetary policy meeting. Traders will be looking for any signs as to whether the central bank is moving closer to a rise in interest rates for what would be the first time since 2006.

The price of silver for March delivery had eased two cents, or 0.1 percent, to $18.25 as of 06:31 GMT. Scotiabank noted in a report yesterday moderation in the bullish trend and momentum indicators as gains in the precious metal continue to encounter strong resistance at the 200-day moving average.
Based on the two most actively traded COMEX contracts, with a total volume of trade in gold and silver of 16,279 contracts as of 06:31 GMT today, the gold:silver ratio was at 71.60. Yesterday, the ratio closed at 71.54.