Silver Price Forecast: XAG/USD bounces back to near $31.00 due to safe-haven flows

• Silver price gains ground due to safe-haven flows amid the rising Russia-Ukraine conflict.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the Ukraine conflict is escalating into a global confrontation.
• The non-interest-bearing Silver may find challenges due to the higher opportunity cost associated with higher interest rates.

Silver price (XAG/USD) retraces its recent losses, trading around $31.00 per troy ounce during the Asian hours on Friday. The prices of safe-haven assets like Silver gained ground due to the escalated situation in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Thursday that the Ukraine conflict is escalating toward a global confrontation, citing the use of US and British-supplied weapons by Ukraine to target Russia, according to Reuters.

Putin stated that Russia had retaliated by deploying a new hypersonic medium-range ballistic missile against a Ukrainian military facility, with further strikes possible. He added that civilians would receive warnings ahead of any future attacks involving these weapons.

Meanwhile, commodity traders continued to evaluate the Federal Reserve's (Fed) monetary policy outlook following the unexpected drop in US Initial Jobless Claims. Claims fell to 213,000 for the week ending November 15, down from a revised 219,000 (previously 217,000) in the prior week and below the forecast of 220,000. This development has fueled speculation about a slower pace of Fed rate cuts.

Futures traders now see a 57.8% chance of the Federal Reserve cutting rates by a quarter point, down from around 72.2% last week, according to data from the CME FedWatch Tool. Non-interest-bearing Silver may face challenges due to the higher opportunity cost associated with higher interest rates.

However, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee commented on Thursday that inflation is on track to reach 2%. Goolsbee noted that over the next year, interest rates are likely to be significantly lower than their current levels. He also suggested that it might be prudent to slow the pace of rate cuts as the Fed approaches a neutral rate level.