Silver falls from month highs, dollar slumps

Silver futures fell off November 5 highs for the third straight session, even as the dollar index plunged from late November highs, following a stream of US data today. 

As of 07:59 GMT, silver futures due in March fell 0.29% to $14.54 an ounce off month highs, while the dollar index declined 0.74% to 96.74 off week highs. 

US Data 

The US private sector added 179 thousand in November, missing estimates of 195K, and compared to 225K in October, revised from 227K. 

US productivity rose 2.3% as expected, up from 0.9% in the second quarter, while labor costs rose 0.9%, slowing down from 1% in the second quarter. 

US trade deficit widened to $55.5 billion from $54.6 in September, missing estimates of $55.2 billion, while unemployment claims fell by 4 thousand in the week ending December 1 to 231K. 

Continuing claims for the week ending November 24 fell 74 thousand to 1.631 million.

The US services PMI rose to 60.7 in November from 60.3 in October, besting estimates of 59.1. 

Two thirds of American GDP relies on services, hence the vital importance of services PMIs to markets. 

Finally, factory orders fell 2.1% in October, compared to a 0.2% increase in September, and missing estimates of a 1.9% increase.