Silver Price Analysis: XAG/USD consolidates above mid-$22.00s, remains vulnerable

• Silver remained confined in a narrow trading range heading into the European session on Wednesday.
• The price action favours bearish traders and supports prospects for an extension of the recent decline.
• Sustained strength beyond the $23.00 round figure is needed to negate the near-term bearish outlook.

Silver struggled to gain any meaningful traction on Wednesday and oscillated in a narrow trading band, just above mid-$22.00s heading into the European session.

Given the previous day's rejection slide from the $23.00 mark, the lack of buying interest favours bearish traders and supports prospects for the resumption of a two-week-old descending trend. The negative bias is reinforced by the fact that technical indicators are holding deep in the bearish territory on 4-hour/daily charts.

Some follow-through selling below the $22.50 area will reaffirm the outlook and drag the XAG/USD back towards last week's swing high, around the $22.15 region. This is closely followed by the $22.00 mark, which if broken decisively should pave the way for a slide towards challenging the double-bottom support, around the $21.40 zone.

On the flip side, the $23.00 mark might continue to act as an immediate strong resistance ahead of the $23.35-$23.40 region. Sustained strength beyond will negate the bearish outlook and prompt some technical buying. This should allow the XAG/USD to surpass the $24.00 mark and climb further towards the YTD high, around the $24.70 region.

Silver 1-hour chart

Technical levels to watch