Silver Price Rises to $16.52 as Interest Rate Hike Looms

Tuesday saw silver gain 1 percent, reaching $16.52 an ounce, but the expected Federal Reserve interest rate hike is likely to temper gains, according to Reuters.

Interest rates have remained low since 2006, but the resurgent US economy has many investors expecting a rate increase during 2015. There is widespread uncertainty about when the hike will occur, and continued speculation that rates could rise as soon as June is limiting investor appetite for safe-haven commodities.

Mark To, head of research at Hong Kong’s Wing Fung Financial Group, remarked, “[d]espite most people swaying back and forth on the timing of the U.S. rate hike, there is still consensus that it will happen this year.”