Silver advances for second straight session as dollar dips

Silver futures tilted higher in American trade away from the lowest since August 28, as the dollar index moved farther away from the lowest since late August for the fourth session out of five, following a spate of data from the euro zone and the US, while the Federal Open Market Committee's policy meeting draws to an end in Washington. 

As of 04:58 GMT, silver futures due on December 15 rose 0.35% to $17.340 an ounce from the opening of $17.279, while the dollar index shed 0.06% to 91.74 from the opening of 91.79. 

Earlier US data showed existing home sales slid 1.7% in August to an annualized 5.35 million units, compared to July's 1.3% drop to 5.44M, while analysts expected a 0.2% increase to 5.46M. 

Investors look forward to policy decisions by Federal Open Market Committee members in this week's periodic meeting, at which policymakers are expected to unveil their three-year forecasts for inflation, growth, unemployment, and interest rates. 

Fed policymakers are expected to start the process of trimming down the Federal Reserve's $4.2 trillion holdings of treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities, while maintaining overnight interest rates at between 1% and 1.25%.