Silver dips to £47.67 an ounce as traders brace for next week's Fed decision

Silver is changing hands at £47.673 a troy ounce today, according to spot price tracking from Exchange-Rates.org, barely moved from £47.669 yesterday but down noticeably from the £50 to £52 range seen through much of last week. Gold, meanwhile, stands near $4,362 an ounce, or roughly £3,227 at current exchange rates, putting the gold to silver ratio, the number of ounces of silver needed to buy one ounce of gold, at around 68.

The softer tone in silver reflects nerves ahead of the Federal Reserve's meeting on 15 and 16 September, where policymakers will decide whether to raise US interest rates. Because silver pays no interest, higher rates make cash and bonds relatively more attractive, and traders have been trimming positions in the run-up to the decision.

Beyond the short-term jitters, analysts are unusually split on silver's direction. JPMorgan has cut its fourth-quarter average forecast sharply, from $90 to $63 an ounce, while Goldman Sachs remains far more bullish, pointing to green-energy and industrial demand and forecasting an average nearer $85 to $100 for the year.

For UK buyers, £47.673 an ounce works out to around £1.53 a gram before costs. The all-in price still needs dealer premium, VAT considerations for physical silver, and delivery added on top. This is market information, not financial advice.