Silver futures ease up in rangebound trade with U.S. data in focus

NEW YORK (June 5) Silver futures edged mildly higher in rangebound trade on Wednesday, as markets eyed the release of U.S. employment data later in the day, amid growing uncertainty over the future of the Federal Reserve's stimulus program.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, silver futures for July delivery traded at USD22.49 a troy ounce during European morning trade, up 0.4% on the day.

Comex silver prices traded in a range between USD22.38 a troy ounce, the daily low and a session high of USD22.63 a troy ounce.

Silver prices were likely to find support at USD21.92 a troy ounce, the low from May 23 and resistance at USD23.05, the high from May 30.

Markets were focusing on the U.S. private sector jobs report by payroll processor ADP later Wednesday for clues on Friday's key nonfarm payrolls data.

Data on Monday showing that activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector contracted for the first time in six months in May dampened expectations that the Federal Reserve will scale back its asset purchase program later this year.

Moves in the silver price this year have largely tracked shifting expectations as to whether the Federal Reserve would end its bond-buying program sooner-than-expected.

Silver, like gold, can benefit from such an environment of easy money because of expectations that ample liquidity would put a damper on the value of paper currencies.

Elsewhere on the Comex, gold for August delivery eased up 0.2% to trade at USD1,400.15 a troy ounce, while copper for July delivery added 0.25% to trade at USD3.378 a pound.