Silver Price Forecast: XAG/USD juggles nominally above $24.00 ahead of data-packed week

Silver price (XAG/USD) has traded in a narrow range marginally above $24.00 for the past four trading sessions. The white metal struggles to find direction despite Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell delivering a hawkish commentary at the Jackson Hole Symposium on Friday.

Fed Powell kept doors open for more interest rate hikes as the achievement of price stability in the United States economy has a long way to go. Jerome Powell said that further policy action will be dependent on incoming data. Investors will keep focus on the labor market and the factory activity data. August economic data carry a higher impact as they will be considered primarily for September’s monetary policy.

The S&P500 opens on a positive note despite rising expectations of one more interest rate hike from the Fed in 2023. Cleveland Fed Bank President Loretta Mester said she supports one more interest rate hike, though not necessarily in September. The US Dollar Index (DXY) demonstrates a lackluster performance at around 104.00.

As per the CME Group Fedwatch Tool, there is a more than 80% chance of the Fed keeping interest rates unchanged in September, while the majority of investors are betting on an interest-rate hike in November.

Silver technical analysis

Silver price trades directionless near the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement (plotted from July 20 high at $25.27 to August 15 low at $22.23) at $24.12 on a two-hour scale. Upward-sloping 20-period Exponential Moving Average (EMA) at $24.17 is providing support to the Silver bulls.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) (14) shifts into the 40.00-60.00 range from the bullish range of 60.00-80.00, which indicates that the bullish impulse has faded. However, the upside bias is still intact.

Silver two-hour chart