Silver Price Forecast: XAG/USD slumps below $31 as safe-haven demand fades

• Silver price slides below $31.00 as its safe-haven demand fades.
• Higher bond yields also weighed on the Silver price.
• Investors expect the Fed to deliver fewer interest rate cuts in the current policy-easing cycle.

Silver price (XAG/USD) extends its correction below $31.00 in European trading hours on Wednesday after facing selling pressure near $31.50 on Tuesday. The white metal falls back as fresh escalation in the Russia-Ukraine war inspired by President Vladimir Putin’s approval to lowering the threshold for counter attack by nuclear weapons faded after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the country will "do everything possible" to avoid the onset of nuclear war.

Putin cleared revision in the nuclear doctrine after US President Joe Biden provided the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) to Ukraine and permitted them to launch deep into Russian territory. Historically, demand for safe-haven assets such as Silver, strengthens in times of uncertainty and heightened geopolitical risks.

A sharp recovery in the US Treasury yields has also weighed on the Silver price. 10-year US Treasury yields jump to near 4.42% on expectations of fewer interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve (Fed) in its current policy-easing cycle. Higher yields on interest-bearing assets increase the opportunity cost of holding an investment in non-yielding assets, such as Silver. The US Dollar Index (DXY), which gauges Greenback’s value against six major currencies, bounces back strongly above 106.60.

Market participants expect the economic agenda of President-elected Donald Trump will boost the United States (US) inflation and economic growth, a scenario that will force the Fed to follow a gradual rate-cut approach.

Silver technical analysis

Silver price stays on track toward the upward-sloping trendline around $29.00, plotted from the February low of $22.30, which also coincides with the 200-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA). The white metal falls back after facing selling pressure near the 50-day EMA, which trades around $31.40.

The asset weakened after the breakdown of the horizontal support plotted from the May 21 high of $32.50.

The 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) slides to near 40.00. A bearish momentum will trigger if the RSI (14) sustains below the same.

Silver daily chart