• The XAG/USD surged to a daily high of $24.15 and then settled at $23.70.
• Dovish bets on the Fed weight on the US Dollar and yields favouring the metal.
• Fed’s Susan Collins warned markets that tightening may not be over.

The XAG/USD surged to a high above $24.00 on Friday and then settled around $23.70  as investors seemed to be taking profits, still closing a 6% winning week. Dovish bets on the Federal Reserve (Fed) put pressure on the US Dollar and in US yields, allowing the metal to find demand.

Markets responded positively to signs of cooling in the US Consumer Price Index (CPI), interpreting it as an indication that the Federal Reserve (Fed) is close to concluding its hiking cycle, which weakened the US Dollar over the week. In line with that, it benefited the grey metal, which soared today to its highest level since early September as the dovish bets on the Fed triggered a decline in US bond yields, often seen as the cost of holding non-yielding metals.

However, Susan Collins, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, acknowledged on Friday the favourable financial conditions and welcomed the recent cooling in inflation. However, she did not rule out the possibility of further tightening, which caused some unease in the markets. In the meantime, US bond yields recovered after seeing sharp declines over the week. The 2-year rate stood at 4.91%, while the 5-year and 10-year yields were at 4.46% and 4.45%, respectively