Silver rose toward $66.60 an ounce on Wednesday, reaching its highest level in eight weeks as U.S. inflation data came in broadly as expected and eased concerns about an imminent Federal Reserve (U.S. central bank) rate hike. Core consumer prices rose 0.2% month-on-month and 2.5% year-on-year in July, reinforcing expectations that the Fed may stick to a more cautious monetary-policy stance. The metal also found support from geopolitical uncertainty around the Strait of Hormuz, after Pakistan’s defense minister said the U.S. and Iran were "close to some sort of arrangement" to reopen the waterway, while President Donald Trump said the U.S. had "total control" over the strait. Beyond policy and geopolitics, silver continued to benefit from strong industrial demand tied to solar-panel manufacturing and electricity-grid investment. Chinese imports of silver-bearing ores rose 62.5% from a year earlier in June to 219,000 tonnes.