US dollar plunges, silver prices stop falling and rebound; traders cautiously observe before the annual meeting [SMM Silver Market Weekly Review]

Macro side, Trump publicly demanded the resignation of US Fed Governor Lisa Cook, sparking market concerns about the Fed's independence. The US dollar index once fell to 98.2 on Wednesday, boosting silver prices to stop falling and rebound, recovering losses. In addition, the Fed meeting minutes released on Wednesday showed that Fed policymakers had no consensus on inflation, employment, or the impact of the Trump administration's tariff policies. Market traders were generally cautious and adopted a wait-and-see sentiment ahead of Fed Chairman Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole symposium on Friday.
[Economic Data] Bullish:
US API crude oil inventories for the week ending August 8: actual -2.417 million barrels, expected -1.587 million barrels, previous 1.519 million barrels
US EIA crude oil inventories for the week ending August 8: actual -6.014 million barrels, expected -175.9, previous 303.6

[Spot Market] In the silver spot market, silver prices continued to be in the doldrums at the beginning of the week. After the US dollar weakened significantly on Wednesday, silver prices recovered some losses and continued to move sideways. The spot-futures price spread between the most-traded SHFE silver 2510 contract and SGE TD narrowed to 25-30 yuan/kg. Suppliers' reluctance to sell eased, and wait-and-see sentiment moderated, leading to an increase in market circulation of spot cargo. In Shanghai, the premium of national standard silver ingot warrants to TD was slightly lowered to 2-4 yuan/kg, with individual suppliers selling small quantities at a premium of 1 yuan/kg to TD. Large manufacturers' silver ingot suppliers quoted a premium of 5-7 yuan/kg to TD. As the weekend approached, market transactions improved slightly. After the change in the spot-futures price spread this week, transactions among traders became active, and downstream purchases increased at low prices. Trading in the spot market improved WoW.

PV: This week, the reference average price for solar cell rear-side silver paste was 5,865-5,978 yuan/kg; for solar cell front-side finger, it was 8,832-9,002 yuan/kg; and for solar cell front-side busbar, it was 8,782-8,952 yuan/kg.