Silver Price Prediction – Prices Consolidate as the Dollar Eases

Silver prices edged higher but whipsawed after attempting to move higher. The dollar declined and yields moved higher. Gold prices also edged higher generating little price trend in the precious metal space. Treasury yields continue to rise despite a softer than expected U.S. Jobs report. According to the Department of Labor, Nonfarm payrolls rose by just 194,000 in the month, compared to expectations of 500,000. According to sources, the survey was taken in the first 2-weeks of September when the Delta variant spread peaked.

Technical analysis

Silver prices edged higher as the dollar eased. Resistance is seen near the 50-day moving average at 23.49 Support is seen near the 10-year moving average at 22.45. Short-term momentum is positive as the fast stochastic recently generated a crossover buy signal. Medium-term momentum has turned positive as the MACD (moving average convergence divergence) index generated a crossover buy signal. This occurs as the MACD line (the 12-day moving average minus the 26-day moving average) crosses above the MACD signal line (the 9-day moving average of the MACD line). The MACD histogram is printing in positive territory with an upward sloping trajectory which points to higher prices.

U.S. Unemployment Rate Declines

According to the U.S. Labor Department, the unemployment rate fell to 4.8%, better than the expectation for 5.1% and the lowest since February 2020. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 194,000 in September compared to expectations of 500,000.  The headline number was hurt by a 123,000 decline in government payrolls, while private payrolls increased by 317,000. Despite the weak jobs total, wages increased sharply. The monthly gain of 0.6% pushed the year-over-year rise to 4.6% as companies use wage increases to combat the persistent labor shortage.