Silver Price Forecast: XAG/USD trades firmly above $47 as Washington closes down

• Silver price clings to gains above $47 amid the US government shutdown.
• US Vice President Vance warns of massive layoffs if the government remains shut down for longer.
• The US private sector labor force saw a reduction of 32K employees in September.

Silver price (XAG/USD) holds onto gains near the all-time high around $47.80 during the Asian trading session on Thursday. The white metal posted a fresh all-time high on Wednesday as funding to the United States (US) government stopped after the short-term funding bill failed to achieve a majority in the House of Senate on Tuesday.

The US government shutdown has increased the appeal of safe-haven assets, such as Silver.

US Vice President (VP) JD Vance has warned that the White House would need to resort to lay-offs if the shutdown remains for more than a few days, Reuters reported.

Such a scenario could boost hopes of more interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve (Fed) to tackle a weak labour market outlook.

Meanwhile, the job demand in the private sector has also worsened due to new economic policies announced by US President Donald Trump. On Wednesday, the ADP reported that the private sector removed 32K payrolled workers in September, while it was expected to have hired 50K fresh job-seekers. Additionally, the August ADP Employment data was also revised from an addition of 54K workers to a reduction of 3K employees.

In Thursday's session, the Initial Jobless Claims data for the week ending September 27 is unlikely to be released due to the US government shutdown, a scenario that will force Fed officials to look for other private sources to get cues on the current status of individuals seeking jobless benefits.

Silver technical analysis

Silver price oscillates inside the Wednesday's range around $47.25, remains close to its all-time high of $47.80 posted the same day. Upward-sloping 20-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) around $44 suggests that the near-term trend remains bullish.

The 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) trades inside the bullish range of 60.00-80.00, indicating a strong bullish momentum.

Looking up, the Silver price could extend its upside to near the psychological level of $50.00. On the downside, the 20-day EMA will act as key support.

Silver daily chart