Silver drops one percent as dollar muscles up

Silver futures tumbled over one percent in American trade, on track for the first weekly loss in three, as the dollar index rose for the fifth session in seven from the lowest since late 2014, following an array of data from the US, the world's largest economy. 

As of 07:08 GMT, silver futures due on December 15 fell 1.13% to $17.060 an ounce from  the opening of $17.255, while the dollar index rose 0.41% to 93.65 from the opening of 93.27. 

US existing home sales rose 0.7% in September to an annualized 5.39 million units, compared to a 1.7% decline in August to 5.35 million, while analysts expected a 0.9% drop to 5.30M, as President Donald Trump continues to meet with potential candidates for the Federal Reserve Chair job in February. 

White House Spokesman Sarah Huckabee said on Wednesday that President Donald Trump will soon announce his pick for the Federal Reserve Chair, after the current occupant, Janet Yellen, ends his term in February. 

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen will deliver a speech titled "Monetary Policy Since the Financial Crisis" at the Herbert Stein Memorial Lecture, in Washington DC later today, where she's expected to assert the gradual tightening of policy is the most appropriate path as inflation softens and global interest rates fall. 

Similarly, US 10-year treasury bond yield rose by four basis points to 2.36%, as analysts expect Trump to replace Janet Yellen with a policy hawk as Fed Chair, underpinning the greenback and weighing on the yellow metal. 

Risk appetite rose as well in the markets after the Senate passed its budget pill on Thursday, raising hopes of fast tax reforms to come, which led investors away from safe havens and towards high-yield investments such as stocks and bonds.