Silver price (XAG/USD) trades back and forth in a narrow range above the crucial support of $23.00 in the late European session. The white metal struggles for a direction as investors seek fresh developments over Middle East tensions and await a speech from Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell, which is scheduled for Thursday. The S&P500 is expected to open the week on a positive note amid a risk-on mood. Investors started digesting Israel-Palestine tensions amid the absence of further escalation by the Israeli troops. The ground invasion plan by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has been delayed advance hostage negotiations. The US Dollar Index (DXY) seeks intermediate support near 105.00 after facing intensified selling. The appeal for the USD index dampens as soft labor demand and stable wage growth data released on Friday, indicated that tight labor market conditions have started easing. This has ramped up expectations of no more interest rate hikes from the Fed.

Meanwhile, Barclays expects that the Fed will raise interest rates in January instead of November. Economists at Barclays said, “We continue to think the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) will need to proceed with additional tightening and will have to maintain a higher rate path than expected by the market, with no rate cut prior to September 2024,” Silver price demonstrates a sideways performance amid a Symmetrical Triangle chart formation on a two-hour scale. The aforementioned chart pattern signals a sharp contraction in volatility. The 200-period Exponential Moving Average (EMA) at $22.85 continues to provide support to the Silver price bulls. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) (14) oscillates in the 40.00-60.00 range, which indicates that investors await a potential trigger.