Silver backs off six-week height as dollar inches up

Silver futures fell in Asian trade off November 2 highs for another session as the dollar index gained modest ground, following earlier labor data from China and ahead of US retail sales and industrial data later today. 

As of 05:51 GMT, silver futures due in March fell 0.61% to $14.77 an ounce off six-week highs, as the dollar index inched up 0.06% to 97.12. 

Earlier Chinese data showed the unemployment rate fell to 4.8% from 4.9%, while retail sales rose 8.1%, slowing down from 8.8%, as industrial output slowed down in growth to 5.4% from 5.9%. 

Now investors await retail sales data, expected with a 0.2% increase in November, slowing down from 0.7% in October, while core sales are estimated with a 0.1% addition, slowing down as well to 0.8%. 

Industrial output is expected with a 0.3% increase, accelerating from 0.1%, while the capacity utilization rate is estimated to be up to 78.6% from 78.4%. 

The manufacturing PMI is estimated to be down to 55.1 from 55.3 in November, while the services PMI are expected with no change at 54.7.