Silver settled down -0.92% at 44052 after stronger-than-expected U.S. nonfarm payrolls data underlined speculation the Federal Reserve will start to taper its asset purchases at one of its next few meetings. The U.S. economy added 203,000 jobs in November, above expectations for jobs growth of 180,000, the Labor Department said. The unemployment rate fell to a five year low of 7.0% from 7.3% in October. The report came one day after official data showed that the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 3.6% in the three months to September, well above the preliminary estimate for 2.6%. The robust data raised the possibility that the Fed may start to scale back its USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program as soon as its next monthly meeting on December 17 - 18. Silver remains plagued by falling demand for precious metals as its based metal demands increase. Traders will closely monitor this weekend’s release of Chinese CPI data. Hedge funds and other money managers reduced their bets on price gains for five straight weeks and are the least-bullish since June 2007, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed today. The net-long position was 26,774 New York futures and options contracts by Dec. 3, CFTC data show. Short bets rose for a fifth week to 79,631, near the record in July. In the week ahead, investors will be focusing on retail sales data out of the U.S. to further gauge the strength of the economy and the need for stimulus. Prices of the precious metal are down approximately 27% this year, heading for the first annual loss in 13 years. Now Silver is getting support at 43524 and below same could see a test of 42996 level, And resistance is now likely to be seen at 44640, a move above could see prices testing 45228.

Trading Ideas:

Silver trading range for the day is 42996-45228.

Silver fell as investors tried to determine what effect the continued gains in U.S. hiring will have on the timing of a reduction in Federal Reserve stimulus.

Prices slumped after the Department of Labor said the U.S. economy added 203,000 jobs in November, beating expectations for a 180,000 increase

Prices have plummeted amid fears that the Fed will tapering its stimulus this year even as the stock market kept rallying.