Silver slides below $16 for first time this year

Silver futures tumbled over one percent to the lowest since December 30, as the dollar index rebounded for the fourth straight session away from ten-month lows, ahead of the release of the Federal Reserve's last meeting minutes. 

As of 06:35 GMT, silver futures due on September 15 fell 1.19% to $15.90 an ounce from the opening of $16.135, while the dollar index rose 0.09% to 96.30 from the opening of 96.22. 

Earlier US data showed factory orders falling more than expected in May, while markets await the minutes of the last Fed meeting, at which policymakers voted to increase interest rates for the second time this year to between one percent and 1.25%, while announcing a plan to normalize the balance sheet. 

Additionally, investors await labor data on Friday, with the unemployment rate expected to settle at the lowest since 2001 at 4.3%, while jobs and average earnings are forecast to haven risen in June. 

Finally, the Federal Reserve will release its Monetary Policy Report on Friday, as the Group of 20 convenes in the same day in Hamburg. 

Otherwise, silver's recent tumbles comes after a host of global central bank governors talked about the possibility of changing monetary policies during the European Central Bank Form on Central Banking in Portugal last week, which was priced in by the markets as hints at policy tightening to come.