Last week, silver prices showed a trend of first falling and then rising. Mid-week, data released by the US Fed suppressed silver prices. After the non-farm payrolls data was released on Friday, silver prices surged and then plummeted.
[Macro data]:
Bullish: The US August ISM Manufacturing PMI was 47.2, higher than the previous value of 46.8 but lower than the expected 47.5; the US August ADP employment figure was 99,000, lower than the previous value of 111,000 and the expected 145,000; the US seasonally adjusted non-farm payrolls for August was 142,000, higher than the previous value of 89,000 but lower than the expected 160,000.
Bearish: The initial jobless claims for the week ending August 31 in the US were 227,000, lower than the previous value of 232,000 and the expected 230,000.
Minor Impact: The Bank of Canada's interest rate decision on September 4 was announced to be 4.25%, a 25 basis point decrease compared to the previous value, in line with market expectations; the US August unemployment rate was 4.2%, lower than the previous value of 4.3% and in line with expectations.
The debate on whether to cut interest rates by 25 basis points or 50 basis points in September continued. Silver prices saw a significant drop after a rise in the night session on Friday, pushing prices to a more ideal level for bottom-fishing. The market still awaited opportunities.
[Spot market]:
Silver: Last week, spot silver quotations showed a bifurcation. Due to the change in spot-futures price spread, some companies quoted higher prices due to cost reasons, while enterprises with some newly delivered goods quoted relatively stable prices, leading to a bifurcation in transactions. Relatively low-priced goods were in short supply, while high-priced goods faced significant selling difficulty.
Downstream: Mid-week prices declined, leading to strong market purchasing sentiment. As the Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays approach, the market began procurement based on production needs. Thus, market purchasing sentiment last week was acceptable, and orders improved compared to the previous period.
