XAG/USD juggles around $23.50 as Fed sees further policy tightening

• Silver price trades sideways near $23.50 after a hawkish Fed guidance.
• The US Dollar Index struggles to extend recovery despite a risk-off market mood.
• Silver price aims to shift auction above the 50% Fibonacci retracement at $23.66.

Silver price (XAG/USD) corrects gradually to near $23.50 after hawkish commentary from Federal Reserve (Fed) policymakers. The white metal failed to extend a rally above $23.80 after Boston Fed President Susan Collins cited on Friday that a further rate hike is certainly not off the table.

Fed Collins also commented that inflation can fall with only a modest rise in unemployment and that core services excluding shelter have not yet shown a sustained improvement. Investors are still worried about the inflation outlook as the labor demand in the United States economy is resilient and consumer spending is robust due to solid wage growth.

Meanwhile, S&P500 futures generated some losses in the London session, portraying a risk-off market mood. Investors remain concerned about the economic outlook as the Fed vowed to keep interest rates sufficiently restrictive until the accomplishment of the 2% inflation target.

The US Dollar Index (DXY) struggles to extend recovery above the immediate resistance of 105.80 as traders still bet that the Fed is done with hiking interest rates. As per the CME Fedwatch tool, traders see almost a 75% chance for interest rates remaining steady at 5.25%-5.50% at the November monetary policy meeting.

Silver technical analysis

Silver price aims to shift auction above the 50% Fibonacci retracement (plotted from August 30 high at $25.00 to September 14 low at $22.30) at $23.66 on a two-hour scale. Upward-sloping 20-period Exponential Moving Average (EMA) at $23.50 indicates that the short-term trend is bullish.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) (14) aims to shift into the bullish range of 60.00-80.00. If the RSI (14) manages to do so, a bullish impulse would get activated.

Silver two-hour chart