Asian Morning: Gold Stabilizes While Silver Faces Pressure, Gold-Silver Ratio Breaks Key Resistance
On August 5th, in Singapore time, international spot gold traded within a narrow range near $2,680 per ounce during the Asian session, showing a relatively stable trend overall. However, the silver market presented a completely different picture—spot silver prices briefly dipped to $27.30/ounce in the early morning, a decline exceeding 1.2%. This divergent trend directly drove the Gold/Silver Ratio to break the 85 mark, reaching its highest level in nearly three months.
According to data from the Singapore Exchange (SGX), local gold spot prices remained steady at approximately S$107.50 per gram today, similar to yesterday's close. Meanwhile, silver spot prices fell to around S$39.20 per ounce, showing a noticeable decline. This trend aligns closely with the changes in holding structures we observed in our monitoring system—last week we pointed out signs of retail investor retreat and institutional takeover in the silver market, and today's price action seems to be validating this assessment.
Gold/Silver Ratio Breaks 85: Mean Reversion or Trend Reversal?
The Gold/Silver Ratio is a classic technical indicator in the precious metals market. Historically, the long-term mean of this ratio has been around 60 to 70. When the ratio breaks above 80, it usually suggests that silver is significantly undervalued relative to gold, or that gold is experiencing a premium bubble relative to silver. However, the market environment since 2026 seems to be rewriting this traditional perception.
Looking back at this year's trends, the Gold/Silver Ratio briefly fell to around 72 in April, a period when industrial demand expectations for silver were strong, and the expansion of the new energy and photovoltaic industries provided solid bottom support for silver. But since late July, as global manufacturing PMI data weakened, the industrial properties of silver began to come under pressure, while gold maintained resilience against geopolitical uncertainty and continuous central bank gold purchases. The divergence in their trends caused the Gold/Silver Ratio to climb again.
Precious metal traders in Singapore reported that the selling pressure on silver this morning came from two main aspects: first, some short-term funds engaged in arbitrage operations of "shorting silver and going long gold" at high ratios; and second, jewelry manufacturers in Southeast Asia chose to wait-and-see as silver prices declined, and physical demand failed to pick up in a timely manner. In contrast, physical buying interest in gold remained robust, which is also supported by recent storage data from Singapore vaults.
Platinum Emerges as a Star: ETF Holdings Hit a New High for the Year
If the divergence between gold and silver was the main theme this morning, then the strong performance of platinum was the biggest surprise. As of 11:00 AM Singapore time, international spot platinum prices were reported at $1,080/ounce, with a daily increase exceeding 1.5%. More noteworthy is that platinum ETF holdings in the Singapore market surpassed the 350,000 ounce mark during today's trading, setting a new high for 2026.
This rally in platinum is not accidental. From a fundamental perspective, South Africa, as the world's largest platinum producer, has recently faced issues with unstable power supply and mining strikes, leading to rising market expectations of supply tightening. From the demand side, the demand for platinum in the automotive catalyst sector remains stable, and the accelerated development of the hydrogen energy industry has opened up new demand space for platinum—platinum is a key catalyst in proton exchange membrane water electrolysis for hydrogen production.
Singapore, as a major precious metals trading hub in the Asia-Pacific region, has been actively developing the hydrogen energy industry chain in recent years. The hydrogen roadmap previously released by the Energy Market Authority (EMA) of Singapore clearly states the goal of establishing a regional hydrogen trading center before 2030. This policy direction provides long-term support for the demand expectations of platinum in the local Singapore market. The increase in today's platinum ETF holdings may be the result of some forward-looking capital positioning ahead of this trend. Increased Trading Activity in the SGX Precious Metals Sector From the precious metals futures trading data of the Singapore Exchange (SGX), the volume in the morning session today was significantly amplified. As of midday, the trading volume of the main contract for SGX gold futures increased by approximately 15% compared to the same period yesterday, the silver futures volume increased by approximately 20%, and the platinum futures volume doubled. This increase in activity indicates a rising level of attention from local Singaporean investors toward the precious metals market. It is worth noting that since the launch of the Smart Monitoring System on July 28th, the transparency of the SGX precious metals market has significantly improved. The monthly operational report of the Smart Monitoring System shows that the participation of small and medium-sized institutions is increasing, while institutional holdings have surpassed 70%. This trend signifies that the Singapore precious metals market is evolving from a retail-dominated structure toward an institutionalized and professionalized direction. For individual investors, understanding the movements and logic of institutional capital will become key to future investment decisions. Industry Interpretation: Three Key Observations for the Precious Metals Market in August Looking ahead to the remaining trading days in August, three noteworthy trends in the Singapore precious metals market include: A potential mean reversion of the gold-silver ratio: The current ratio above 85 is at a historically high level. If industrial demand for silver shows marginal improvement, or if gold safe-haven sentiment cools down, the ratio is expected to revert below 80. Singaporean investors can conduct ratio arbitrage operations using SGX gold and silver futures contracts. The demand rotation between platinum and palladium: As the hydrogen energy industry chain advances and automotive emission standards evolve, the demand structure between platinum and palladium is undergoing subtle changes. The growth in platinum ETF holdings may suggest that institutional capital is re-evaluating the value of these niche precious metals. New developments in Singapore gold market policy: The Singapore Gold Regulatory Authority previously raised the gold reserve ratio to 5%. Whether this policy direction will extend to silver and platinum group metals is a focus of market attention. Changes in policy may become an important catalyst for the Singapore precious metals market in the second half of the year. Xindi Finance will continuously monitor the real-time dynamics of the local Singapore precious metals market to provide investors with the latest and most professional market interpretations and trading references. Against the backdrop of increasing market divergence, it is recommended that investors closely monitor changes in holdings data, combine them with ratio indicators and fundamental analysis, and formulate trading strategies prudently.
