Silver Prices Rise in the Wake of Disappointing Jobs Data

Silver prices moved higher on Wednesday for the second consecutive trading session. The US dollar declined following weaker private jobs data. However, gold prices rallied as the safe-haven asset became more attractive. US treasury yields fell following the disappointing January ADP private payroll report. The ten-year yield dropped seven basis points to 1.747%. The surprising decline came in the wake of the spread of the Omicron variant across the US.

Technical Analysis

On Wednesday, silver prices rose for the second consecutive trading session, testing a key resistance level. Support is seen near an upward sloping trendline near 22.49. Resistance is seen near the 50-day moving average at 22.87. Short-term momentum has turned positive as the fast stochastic generated a crossover buy signal. The fast stochastic is printing a reading of 21.39, indicating that prices are no longer oversold. Medium-term momentum is negative as MACD (moving average convergence divergence) index crossover indicates a sell signal. This scenario occurs when the MACD line (the 12-day moving average minus the 26-day moving average) crosses over the MACD signal line (the 9-day moving average of the MACD line). The MACD histogram prints in negative territory with a downward sloping trajectory pointing to lower prices.

Private Payrolls Foreshadow Ominous Non-farm Report

The ADP Private Payroll Report showed that private US payrolls fell by 310,000 in January. This data marks the first time there has been a decline in payrolls in over a year. Economists expected 200,000 jobs to be added this past month. This data comes ahead of January’s nonfarm payroll number, which comes out on Friday. Economists expect there to be a gain of 150,000 jobs last month.