Silver prices upheld the sideways trading pattern of last week as trading resumed after the weekend, much like when we published our silver outlook on Friday. However, the range has expanded somewhat since Friday as prices made an attempt to break lower, a move that failed and has subsequently placed the pricenow relatively near the middle of the range.

The current range keeping silver prices trapped is $16.78 to $17.56 and these two price levels appear to be the only two that silver traders respect at this moment. Within the above-mentioned range, there are nostrong levels which price is respecting.

Below the April 25 low of $16.78, the next support level is the psychological level of $16.50 and is followed by the April 13 high of $16.30. Above the upper end of the range, namely the May 11 high of $17.56, the next resistance levels are the May 5 high of 17.62, the May 3 high of $17.70, and the May 2 high of $17.99. If silver prices follow their normal pattern then they will remain trapped in the above-mentioned range until a breakout occurs. However, it is hard to know when such a break may occur.

Silver Price | CFD: XAG/USD

Created with Marketscope/Trading Station II; prepared by Alejandro Zambrano

Potential market movers over the next few hours are U.S. Empire Manufacturing and NAHB Housing Market Index, but these indicators are not crucial for current Fed monetary policy, hence, market reaction may be muted.

The Empire Manufacturing Survey rose to 9.6 in April, which was a one-year high after being negative for seven months. The rise in the index indicates that business activity expanded for New York manufacturers. This time around, a Bloomberg News Poll projects a decline to 6.5 from the 9.6. The benefit of the Empire Manufacturing Survey is that today’s reading is for the month of May and therefore provides a early hint as to the situation within the U.S. manufacturing sector.