On July 31, 2026, the "ZhiDingScreen" system, an intelligent regulatory tool for the Singapore precious metals market, underwent a significant update with the official launch of the "Position Turnover Rate" metric. This new feature provides a visual representation of the trading frequency of silver futures and spot markets in Singapore for the first time, offering market participants unprecedented microstructure insights. Latest data shows that the turnover rate for silver in Singapore dropped significantly in July compared to the semi-annual average, falling from a peak of 45% to 32%, while the proportion of long-term funds holding positions for over 30 days rose from 28% to 41%. Market observers suggest this signifies a profound transformation in the Singapore silver market, shifting from "short-term speculation" to "long-term allocation."
Turnover Rate Decline: Market Sentiment Shifts from Fervor to Rationality
The turnover rate is a core indicator measuring position activity and speculative inclination. The changes captured by the ZhiDingScreen system directly reflect a turning point in the behavior patterns of on-market funds. In the first half of the year, influenced by repeated global geopolitical situations and fluctuating expectations from the Federal Reserve, the Singapore silver market experienced multiple rounds of sharp rises and falls, with surging intraday trading volume and frequent entry and exit of short-term funds, at one point pushing the position turnover rate above the 40% warning line. However, since July, this figure has declined for four consecutive weeks, with the latest week reaching a monthly low of 30.8%.
It is worth noting that the decline in turnover rate is not due to a contraction in trading. ZhiDingScreen statistics show that the average daily trading volume for silver spot in July remained above 120 million SGD, essentially flat compared to the previous month. This indicates that market liquidity has not dried up, but rather that the trading structure has changed—more positions are shifting from "quick in and quick out" to "long-term holding."
Long-Term Fund Inflow: Allocation Logic Reshapes Market Ecosystem
Concurrent with the decline in the turnover rate is a significant increase in the proportion of long-term fund holdings. ZhiDingScreen defines positions held for more than 30 calendar days as "long-term allocated positions," which typically include sovereign wealth funds, insurance institutions, family offices, and hedging positions from industrial clients. As of July 30, the proportion of long-term allocated positions in the total silver holdings rose to 41%, an increase of 7 percentage points from the end of June, setting a record high since the launch of ZhiDingScreen.
A risk control manager at a major precious metals warehousing company in Singapore stated in an interview: "Previously, we worried that speculative funds would push prices too high, leading to uncontrollable hedging costs for physical commodities. Now that long-term funds are entering, the market anchor is more solid, and companies have a more reliable reference coordinate when formulating annual purchasing plans." Many local silver processing companies also reported that after the turnover rate decreased, the slippage in spot prices narrowed significantly, and the pricing efficiency of forward contracts improved markedly.
Triple Drivers Behind the New Metric
The addition of the turnover rate metric by ZhiDingScreen is not an isolated functional iteration. Analysts believe it reflects three major changes in the structure of the Singapore precious metals market.
First, risk aversion has shifted from "transactional" to "asset-based."
Since the beginning of the year, global central banks have continuously increased their holdings of gold, but the monetary properties of silver are often underestimated. As the Monetary Authority of Singapore further opens silver investment channels, including allowing EPU (eligible investors) to directly hold physical silver through custody accounts, idle funds are beginning to view silver as a long-term anti-inflation asset rather than merely a hedging tool. This asset-based allocation naturally requires longer holding periods.
Second, the proportion of industrial hedging demand has increased.
The global photovoltaic industry is set for a new peak in installed capacity in 2026. Silver, a core raw material for photovoltaic slurries, accounts for over 60% of industrial demand. Singapore, as a precious metals trading hub in Southeast Asia, hosts numerous procurement headquarters of photovoltaic component manufacturers. Data from Zhidin Screen shows that in July, the net holdings of industry clients in silver futures increased by 23% month-on-month, with nearly all these funds locked in terms of three months or longer.
Third, the "crowding effect" driven by regulatory transparency
Zhidin Screen's penetrating regulatory function makes speculative strategies that previously benefited from information asymmetry unsustainable. When every large position change is visible in real-time, the cost of short-term manipulation significantly increases. Some smaller hedge funds are choosing to consolidate trading frequency and adopt longer-term quantitative models, which objectively lowers the turnover rate.
What does a declining turnover rate mean for the market?
From historical patterns, there is a significant positive correlation between position turnover rate and price volatility. Zhidin Screen data provides the latest evidence for this perspective: the volatility of Singapore silver spot prices (annualized over 30 days) dropped from 28.6% last month to 19.4% in July, reaching a low in nearly a year. Price movements are smoother, and flash crashes or short squeezes characterized by sharp intraday rises and falls have noticeably decreased.
A senior consultant from the Singapore Precious Metals Traders Association pointed out, "This is a sign of market maturity. Excessive turnover is inevitably accompanied by over-speculation, and true value discovery requires time to mature. With long-term funds dominating now, silver pricing will reflect fundamental supply and demand more than market sentiment." He also cautioned that a rapid increase in the proportion of long-term funds could lead to liquidity stratification, and insufficient short-term liquidity supply during extreme market risks could exacerbate selling pressure. Zhidin Screen must continue to monitor the dynamic balance between long and short positions.
Zhidin Screen's next step: From "Disclosure" to "Warning"
According to insiders at the Singapore Exchange, the Zhidin Screen team is developing a "position crowding warning" function, which aims to build a systemic risk assessment model using multiple indicators such as turnover rate, concentration, and term structure. In the future, when the crowding of a certain type of position exceeds a threshold, the system will automatically send anonymized alerts to the market, helping participants identify potential margin call risks in advance.
Evolving from "disclosure transparency" to "risk warning," Zhidin Screen is transforming from an information tool into a market stabilizer. For the Singapore precious metals market, this institutionalized in-depth development may hold greater long-term value than short-term price fluctuations. As the turnover rate indicators continue to be released, market participants will gain a clearer mirror reflecting their trading behavior and the ecological changes of the market.
(This article is based on public data from the Singapore market and industry interviews and does not constitute investment advice.)
