Silver slipped below $45 per ounce on Friday, easing from 14-year highs as the dollar strengthened following upbeat US data that tempered bets for deeper Federal Reserve rate cuts. Thursday’s reports showed weekly jobless claims fell to 218K, highlighting labor market resilience, while second-quarter GDP growth was revised sharply higher to an annualized 3.8%, the fastest in nearly two years. Markets still expect a quarter-point Fed cut in October, though easing priced in for the year has narrowed to 39 basis points from about 43 earlier this week. Despite the pullback, silver remains up about 4% this week on firm industrial demand, particularly from photovoltaic panels and electronics where substitution is limited. On the supply side, silver output cannot quickly adjust to higher prices, while smelter and processing disruptions in key refining hubs have tightened refined availability, reduced prompt deliverability and lifted near-term premiums.
