Silver Price Slumps Below $64.00 Amid Profit Taking and Recalibrated Rate Hopes

The price of Silver (XAG/USD) fell for the second consecutive day on Friday, dropping below $64.00 per troy ounce during Asian hours. This decline comes as investors opted to take profits while weighing the Federal Reserve's monetary policy trajectory and ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

Cooling inflation data also contributed to market sentiment. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that US wholesale prices for goods and services remained flat in July, below the expected 0.2% growth and following a revised 0.1% decline in June. Excluding food and energy sectors, core Producer Price Index (PPI) figures nudged up 0.2%, slightly below the consensus estimate of 0.3%. Headline PPI rose 4.7% year-over-year, while core PPI increased 4.2%.

The softer inflation numbers have prompted market participants to recalibrate their expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate policy. The implied probability of a rate hike at the Fed's September meeting dropped to 34.8%, down from 40% immediately following the PPI release.