Silver plumbs three-month low as dollar rallies

Silver futures fell nearly one percent in American trade to December 19 lows as the dollar index rose to early March highs, amid a lack of data from the US, the world's largest economy, while the Federal Open Market Committee started its two-day policy meeting today. 

As of 05:30 GMT, gold futures due on May 15 fell 0.95% to $16.170 an ounce from the opening of $16.325, while the dollar index rose 0.60% to 90.31 from the opening of 89.76. 

Now investors await the results of the FOMC's meeting tomorrow under new Chair Jerome Powell, as analysts expect policymakers to hike interest rates to between 1.50% and 1.75%, while unveiling their three-year forecasts for growth, inflation, unemployment, and interest rates. 

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in his recent Congress testimony that hiking interest rates four times this year would be considered a "gradual pace", bolstering expectations of a March rate hike.

The economy created 313 thousand new jobs last month, while wages slowed down, confirming Powell's expectations that labor would strengthen further before improvements in wages.