Silver rises as dollar moves little

Silver futures rose for the first time in three sessions as the dollar index traded mostly flat on Monday, following earlier data from the US, the world's largest economy, while Federal Reserve Governor Randal Quarles delivered a speech titled "An Assessment of the US Economy" at the National Association of Business Economics Policy Conference, in Washington.

As of 06:33 GMT, silver futures due on May 15 rose 0.52% to $16.620 an ounce from the opening of $16.549, while the dollar index barely rose 0.01% to 89.89 from the opening of 89.88. 

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi testified on monetary policy and the inflation outlook before the European Parliament Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, in Brussels, where he noted that while growth bested expectations, inflation still needs to present more convincing evidence of upward sustainability before a change in monetary policy. 

Draghi expected inflation to resume its march higher, asserting the persistent relationship between growth and inflation even when faced with transient weakness, and finally noting that wages have grown in the euro zone, while inflation's path is dependent on the ECB's stimulus policies. 

Earlier US data showed new home sales fell 7.8% in January to an annualized 593 thousand units, compared to a 7.6% drop in December to 643 thousand, revised from a 9.3% decline, while analysts expected a 3.5% rise to 647 thousand units. 

Tomorrow, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is due to testify on the Semiannual Monetary Policy Report before the House Financial Services Committee, in Washington DC.

Markets now look forward to the Fed's March 20-21 meeting, the first under new Chair Jerome Powell, at which policymakers will release their three-year forecasts for inflation, unemployment, growth, and interest rates.