Silver Price Forecast: XAG/USD faces strong resistance at the confluence of the 50/100-DMA

• Silver is the only one gaining, up 0.08% in the precious metal segment.
• Mixed US macroeconomic data ignored by US dollar buyers, the DXY edges down 0.20%.
• XAG/USD Technical Outlook: Neutral bearish, per DMAs located above the spot price.

Silver (XAG/USD) advances for the third consecutive day, up some 0.08%, trading at $23.14 at the time of writing. The white metal is the only precious metal that advances in the session, as Gold drops some 0.34%, while Platinum and Cooper fall 0.39% and 0.60%, respectively.

In the meantime, the US Dollar Index (DXY), a gauge of the greenback’s value against a basket of other peers, slides 0.20%, sits at 94.722, even though US T-bond yields are flat at 1.727%.

US macroeconomic data came mixed

Before Wall Street opened, the US economic docket featured Initial Jobless Claims for the week ending January 7. The reading came at 230K, higher than the 200K foreseen, whereas the Producer Price Index (PPI) for December, which measures the prices paid for producers, advanced by 9.7%, though barely lower than the 9.6% estimated on an annual basis, a reading that contradicts the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) revealed on Wednesday, which showed that the US consumer inflation rose by 7.0%, the highest level since 1982.

Fed speakers continue to cross newswires

On Thursday, the Fed speaking parade continued. Philadelphia’s Fed President Patrick Harker coincided with fellow policymakers, who have penciled three-rate hikes in 2022, though Harker noted that he is open to a fourth one. He said the Fed needs to act faster than in the previous Quantitative Tightening concerning the balance sheet reduction. 

In the same tone, the Fed’s Vice-Chairwoman nominee Lael Brainard said that the US central bank could hike as soon as March to ensure that the Fed would tame inflation towards the Fed’s target level. She said, “The committee has projected several hikes over the course of the year.”

Meanwhile, Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said that the labor shortage “might be a long-lasting phenomenon.” Barkin noted that as the US central bank adjusts the balance sheet down to normal levels, it will impact reserves.

XAG/USD Price Forecast: Technical outlook

XAG/USD is neutral-bearish from a technical analysis perspective. The reason is that the spot price remains below the daily moving averages (DMAs), which are bearish-aligned with the shorter time-frame ones beneath the longer time ones.

That said, at press time, the non-yielding metal faces strong resistance at the confluence of the 100 and the 50-DMA, which lie at $23.29 and $23.30, respectively.

On the downside, the first support level would be the psychological $23.00. A breach of the latter would expose December 29, 2021, swing low at $22.59, followed by $22.00.