Silver is on track for its worst month in nearly 15 years, with the metal tracked by the iShares Silver Trust tumbling more than 20% in June, its steepest monthly decline since September 2011. At around $60 an ounce, silver has roughly halved from its January high near $120, when it was Wall Street's hottest trade. The selloff is driven by a broader precious-metals downturn, with gold sliding more than 11% in June, and a stronger U.S. dollar, as the Dollar Index rose about 2.4% amid a shift in Federal Reserve expectations toward a rate hike. Futures pricing now treats a rate increase by October as all but certain, raising the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding silver. Unlike the 2011 plunge, which was tied to a liquidity crisis and recession fears, the current drop comes as the U.S. economy expanded at a 2.1% annualized rate in the first quarter, with no recession on the radar, and silver's 14-day relative strength index sank toward oversold levels before a bounce.