- Summary:
- Silver prices (XAG/USD) are on the up today after a a poorer-than-expected initial jobless claims report and the dovish FOMC minutes pressurize the USD.
Silver (XAG/USD) prices are up nearly 1.6% this Thursday after long-term bond yields fell following the FOMC minutes that were described as dovish.
Yields on long-term US government bonds are slipping on the day, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note falling 2.21% as of the time of writing, as the markets took note of the tone of the FOMC minutes and statements by FOMC board members such as Kaplan and Evans.
President of the Dallas Fed Reserve bank, Robert Kaplan, noted earlier yesterday that the Fed needed to be more aggressive with monetary policy, noting that the US economy was “not out of the woods in this pandemic” amid worry that a variant of COVID-19 that was less susceptible to the vaccine could emerge. His colleague at the Chicago Fed Reserve Bank, Charles Evans, reiterated in a statement captured by Reuters that it was “still quite a long way to go”, despite progress in the labour market.
Adding to the negative sentiment on the greenback on the day was the downbeat initial jobless claims report, which showed a spike in first-time jobless claims above market forecasts.
Technical Levels to Watch
The resistance level at 25.386 is now under threat of giving way, after the intraday violation by the active daily candle on the XAG/USD chart. If the candle closes with a 3% penetration above that price, the breakout is confirmed via this price filter and the doorway towards 26.034 blown wide open. Above this level, the 26.325 barrier also lies, standing in the way of bulls in case of a hefty advance that targets the 26.868 and 27.5032 price levels.
On the other hand, only a resumption of bullish pressure by the greenback would allow for sub-25.000 silver prices, with 24.569 and the 24.000 ceiling of the support zone shown on the chart lining up as initial targets for bears.
Silver Price (XAG/USD) Daily Chart
