Silver prices retreat from highs, basis narrows, spot market trading remains sluggish [SMM Daily Review]

During the day, silver prices retreated from highs, and the spot-futures price spread for the most-traded SHFE silver 2602 contract narrowed slightly, with some suppliers holding back sales and adopting a wait-and-see approach. In Shanghai, mainstream quotations for national standard silver ingots from suppliers against TD narrowed to discounts of 5-0 yuan/kg, while some suppliers were reluctant to sell at discounts of 10-25 yuan/kg against the SHFE silver 2602 contract. Downstream purchasing interest remained sluggish. Approaching the weekend and year-end, some traders closed their accounts early. Market participants in both Shanghai and Shenzhen reported that transactions fell short of expectations, with large-discount offerings gradually decreasing in the market, and actual transactions remained very sluggish.