Silver futures trade near one-month low on Fed stimulus outlook

                Silver prices traded near the previous session’s one-month low on Wednesday, as growing expectations that the Federal Reserve will start to scale back its stimulus program by the end of the year weighed on sentiment.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, silver futures for December delivery traded at USD20.78 a troy ounce during European morning trade, little changed on the day.

Comex silver prices traded in a range between USD20.62 a troy ounce, the daily low and a session high of USD20.81.

The December contract tumbled to USD20.56 a troy ounce on Tuesday, the lowest since October 15, before settling at USD20.77, down 2.37%.

Futures were likely to find support at USD20.50 a troy ounce, the low from October 15 and resistance at USD21.33, the high from November 12.

Tuesday’s losses came after Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said the central bank could begin to reduce the pace of its bond-buying program as soon as December. 

Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher also warned about a stimulus reduction, saying “at some point we will have to taper.”

Last week’s stronger than forecast U.S. nonfarm payrolls report prompted investors to bring forward expectations for a reduction in the Fed’s USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program.

Investors were turning their attention to Thursday’s Senate hearing to confirm Janet Yellen as the first chairwoman of the Federal Reserve, for indications on the future course of U.S. monetary policy.

Silver futures are down approximately 30% this year on concerns the Fed will begin cutting back its easy-money policy sooner-than-expected.

Elsewhere on the Comex, gold for December delivery inched up 0.3% to trade at USD1,275.30 a troy ounce, while copper for December fell 1.2% to trade at USD3.195 a pound, the lowest since August 8. 

Copper traders were disappointed with the lack of concrete details on policy reforms announced at China's Third Plenum meeting, which concluded on Tuesday. 

Leaders pledged to let markets play a decisive role in the economy over the next decade, but no further details were provided.

The Asian nation is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption last year. - investing.com