Silver closes lower as dollar firms

Silver prices fell during today's trading, on US dollar's rise against most of the major currencies and the Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's statements.

The dollar weighed on precious metals after Powell said that the speculations about a rate cut at next month's meeting are not inevitable and should not be necessarily adopted.

He added that the members of the Central Bank are assessing matters in general and that economic data will be closely monitored in the coming period.

Powell's comments mean that the US central bank is continuing its adoption of the wait-and-see policy and that it will not respond to the widespread market speculations about a rate cut.

In another context, the dollar index (against a number of major currencies) rose by 0.1% to 96.1 points by 19:31 GMT, reaching a high of 96.3 points and a low of 95.8 points.

At the end of the session, silver futures (July delivery) fell by 0.5% to settle at $115.30 per ounce, the metal hit a high of $15.505 and a low of $15.255.