Silver tops record $100/oz; gold and platinum soar to new highs

Silver tops record 0/oz; gold and platinum soar to new highs

Silver tops record $100/oz; gold and platinum soar to new highs

by Hansraj Agrawal | Jan 23, 2026 | Business

Silver and gold rise to new highs in the futures market on the MCX.

Silver prices topped a record $100 an ounce on Friday to rise to as high as $100.22 before dropping to $99.70. Gold and platinum too zoomed to new highs, resuming their rally on Friday, as the dollar had its poorest week since May 2025, due to geopolitical crises and threats to the US Federal Reserve from the Donald Trump administration.

In India, gold rose to a new high, but silver ended short of Wednesday’s high in the Mumbai spot market. But both metals surged to new highs in the futures market on the MCX.

Gold, which surged to a new high of $4,967 an ounce early on Friday, was quoted at $4,945.70 at 1940 hours IST.

Gold February futures on the COMEX ruled at $4,944.25 an ounce.

In the Mumbai spot market, gold ended at ₹1,54,310 per 10 g, while on the MCX, February futures were at ₹1,56,991.

Silver ruled at $99.925 an ounce at 2125 hours, and March futures on the COMEX rose to $100.465 before easing to 100.09. In the Mumbai spot market, silver closed at ₹3,17,705 a kg, and on the MCX, March futures were ₹3,34,700.

At $110/oz in China

In China, silver March futures soard over $110 an ounce, ruling at 25,233 yuan a kg ($112 an ounce)

Platinum hit a record high of $2,700 an ounce as it gained with investors looking to it as the next best bet to gold and silver.

Renisha Chainani, head of research at Augmont, said sustained haven demand was aiding the precious metals complex.

Edelweiss Mutual fund said silver continues to enjoy strong, multi-sector demand—from jewellery and electronics to electric vehicles and solar energy.

Gold’s support

Chainani said the previous resistance for gold near $4,750 has now turned into a strong support zone. “As long as prices hold above this level, the upside target of $5,000 remains intact,” she said.

In silver, prices have corrected, but strong support continues. “As long as silver trades above the $90.5 level, the metal retains the potential to move higher towards the $99–100 range. Overall, dips are likely to attract buying interest rather than signal a trend reversal, she said.

Published on January 23, 2026

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Axis Bank places consumer lending arm's stake sale on hold, sources say

by Hansraj Agrawal | Jan 23, 2026 | Business

Axis Bank
has put on hold plans to sell a ‍stake in its consumer lending
arm, Axis Finance. after the central bank eased proposed
restrictions on overlapping business activities between banks
and their ‌subsidiaries, three sources familiar with the matter.

India’s third-largest lender initiated the stake sale
process in Axis Finance last year and appointed merchant
bankers, after the Reserve Bank of India in 2024 proposed draft
rules that barred banks from having overlapping businesses with
subsidiaries.

Morgan Stanley had been appointed as a banker to the deal.

However, following a pushback from the industry, the RBI
diluted its proposal in December 2025, permitting banks to
continue with potentially overlapping ⁠non-bank businesses while
ring-fencing them from banks’ main operations.

The rules in their original form could have forced large
banks, including HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and
Axis Bank to either merge or divest non-bank ⁠lending
businesses held as subsidiaries.

The change in rules has prompted a rethink at Axis Bank, the
sources, directly familiar with the deal, said.

“Axis Finance is well-capitalised and does not need to rush
into ‌raising capital,” said one of the sources, who declined ‌to
be named.

An email sent to Axis Bank and to Morgan Stanley was not
answered.

Axis Finance, registered as a ‍non-bank finance company, is
set to submit a revised growth plan to the bank’s board in April
and will reevaluate its capital-raising needs ‍thereafter, the
person said.

A separate source, while not confirming that the deal is on
hold, said the bank will approach the regulator with options for
Axis Finance – including infusing fresh capital itself.

The deal to sell an initial 20% stake in the lender was
estimated to be worth $350 million to $400 million, according to
local media reports. Reuters could not independently confirm the
value of the deal.

Homegrown private equity fund Kedaara Capital ⁠was most
actively in discussions, the second of the three sources said.

A third source said the bids received were not lucrative
enough, which prompted the bank to pull back on the ⁠sale after
the recent change in regulations.

Axis Bank has invested 23.75 billion Indian rupees ($262.49
million) in Axis Finance over the past decade, according to the
company’s website. As of March 31, 2025, Axis Finance had assets
under management of 415.83 billion rupees.

Published on January 23, 2026

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Broker’s call: KEI Industries (Buy)

by Hansraj Agrawal | Jan 23, 2026 | Business

Target: ₹5,573

CMP: ₹3,806.85

KEI Industries reported Wires & Cables revenue growth of 19.5 per cent in Q3-FY26, driven by strong growth in institutional cable exports. W&C EBIT margin expanded by 190 bps due to increased share of housing wires and substantial contribution of exports to total revenue.

KEI Industries has guided for over 20 per cent revenue growth in FY26 and about 25 per cent in Q4-FY26, despite RM inflation, backed by capacity increase. From FY27, the company targets over 20 per cent revenue CAGR supported by full ramp-up of Sanand plant and strong domestic and overseas demand. Sanand project will be fully ramped up by Mar’27, with electron beam equipment commissioning by Apr’26, MV cables by Aug’26, and EHV cables by Mar’27.

The company aims to improve its EBITDA margin by about 100 bps once the plant is fully commissioned and has guided for about 11 per cent margin in FY27. KEI Industries reported strong revenue growth in EHV cables (+82.1 per cent y-o-y) and housing/winding wires (45.7 per cent y-o-y). Exports saw a significant increase of 82.4 per cent, with institutional cable exports surging by 95.5 per cent.

We tweak our earnings estimates for FY27/FY28. We estimate revenue/EBITDA/PAT CAGR of 22.7/23.1/19.1 per cent for FY26-28E. Maintain ‘BUY’ at target price of ₹5,573 (same as earlier), valuing at 40x FY28 earnings.

Published on January 23, 2026

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Broker’s call: Bandhan Bank (Buy)

by Hansraj Agrawal | Jan 23, 2026 | Business

Target: ₹160

CMP: ₹149.35

Bandhan’s operational indicators in the Emerging Entrepreneurs Business (EEB) segment are showing gradual signs of improvement, with X-bucket CE improving to 99.6 per cent since Nov’25 and better early-stage delinquency indicators pointing to lower forward flows.

We expect Bandhan’s RoA/RoE to improve to 1.2-1.5/10-13 per cent over FY27-28E vs. an unimpressive 0.5/4 per cent in FY26E. With EEB slippages declining, early delinquency indicators improving and bank strengthening and enhancing its risk framework across segments, credit costs are expected to ease gradually thereby supporting earnings. NIM cycle appears to have bottomed out; and MFI growth resumption, deposit repricing and improving CASA mix is expected to drive 35-50bps NIM expansion over the next few quarters.

We value the stock at 0.9x Sep’27E ABV vs. current valuations of 0.8x Sep’27E ABV to arrive at a target price of ₹160/share. We revise our rating from Hold to Buy on reasonable valuations. A meaningful re-rating would be driven by sustained growth delivery and decisive trends, indicating improving profitability.

Key Risks: A slowdown in overall credit momentum which could potentially derail earnings momentum for the bank; and any additional asset quality stress arising from the EEB book could potentially impact our earnings estimates.

Published on January 23, 2026

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RBI announces measures to infuse durable liquidity aggregating about ₹2.15 lakh cr into the banking system

by Hansraj Agrawal | Jan 23, 2026 | Business

As part of the latest round of liquidity infusion measures, the RBI will also be conducting USD/INR Buy/Sell Swap auction of USD 10 billion for a tenor of three years on February 4, 2026
| Photo Credit:
REUTERS

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday announced that it will infuse durable liquidity aggregating about ₹2.15 lakh crore between January 30 and February 12 to bolster the banking system’s liquidity, currently just in marginal surplus, in the run-up to the financial year end when credit demand picks up.

This is the third time in the last one month or so that the central bank has announced liquidity infusion measures, comprising variable rate repo (VRR) auction, USD/INR Buy/Sell Swap auction and open market operation (OMO) purchase auctions of Government of India securities (G-Secs), of a durable nature.

One of the highlights of the latest round of liquidity infusion measures is that, the central bank, for the first time, will be conducting a variable rate repo (VRR) auction for 90 days. So far, the longest duration for which the RBI has conducted VRR is for 56 days.

The 90-day Variable Rate Repo (VRR) auction to inject ₹25,000 crore into the banking system will be conducted on January 30, 2026.

Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist, Bank of Baroda, said: “When it’s a VRR, it’s less onerous for banks. So, when they are pledging G-Secs for 90 days, the securities are reckoned for LCR (liquidity coverage ratio) and SLR (statutory liquidity ratio) purposes. So that’s the advantage of VRR over OMO purchase of G-Secs

“At the same time, Banks are getting cash from RBI for a longer period. It gives certainty to them that they will get funds for 90 days.”

In the first leg of the aforementioned swap transaction, banks will sell US Dollars to the RBI. The RBI will credit the Rupee funds to the current accounts of the successful bidders. In the reverse leg of the swap transaction, Rupee funds will be returned to RBI along with the swap premium to get the US Dollars back after three years.

RBI will also be conducting OMO purchase auctions of G-Secs for an aggregate amount of ₹1 lakh crore in two tranches of ₹50,000 crore each to be held on February 5, 2026, and February 12, 2026.

Published on January 23, 2026

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Indian buyers cancel 1.3 lakh tonnes of soyoil deals with South America

by Hansraj Agrawal | Jan 23, 2026 | Business

Indian importers have cancelled at least 1.30 lakh tonnes (lt) of soybean oil deals with South American nations. This is mainly due to the depreciation of the rupee against the dollar and the price disparity between imported and domestic soybean oil. Brazil and Argentina are the major South American nations that supply soybean oil to India.

Sandeep Bajoria, Chief Executive Officer of Sunvin Group (a vegetable oil brokerage and consultancy firm), told businessline that India has cancelled about 45,000 tonnes of soybean oil deals for February, March and April shipments. Indian buyers cancelled around 85,000 tonnes of South American oil in December.

Rupee depreciation and disparity in price between South American and Indian soybean oils have been cited as reasons for this. South American soybean oil is higher by around $35 a tonne when compared to its domestic counterpart, he said.

Higher than CPO

The CIF price of soybean degummed crude oil was at $1,248 a tonne on January 22. According to the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA), the average CIF value of crude soybean oil was $1,188 a tonne in December. In fact, soybean oil price in India was around $121 a tonne more than crude palm oil (CPO) on January 22.

The rupee exchange rate was ₹91.63 against the dollar on January 22. The average rupee exchange rate was ₹90.03 per dollar in December 2025, whereas it was ₹88.84 in November 2025. The average rupee exchange rate was ₹84.97 per dollar in December 2024.

On the other hand, soybean oil has been gaining since December as the US Environmental Protection Agency has propsed higher renewable fuel standard for 2026 and 2027. This has increased demand for bio-mass based diesel.

December boost

Chinese purchase of US soybeans to keep up its commitment to buy 12 million tonnes by February-end has also boosted the prices. In addition, imports of soybean oil by India increased 37 per cent in December 2025.

According to the Solvent Extractors Association of India, soybean oil imports in December increased to 5.05 lakh tonnes (lt) compared with 3.71 lt a year ago. However, it was a tad short for the November-December 2025 period compared with shipments a year ago. Argentina is the major supplier to India, exporting 5.92 lt during October-November, while another 1.05 lt came from China, while Brazil accounted for 98,500 tonnes.

On the domestic front, farmers in Madhya Pradesh are benefiting from the soybean Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana (BBY) for kharif 2025-26. Around 16 lt of soybean have already been sold by farmers under the scheme as of December 2025 against the approved quantity of 22 lt by the Madhya Pradesh government.

Win:win

Sanjeev Asthana, SEA President, said earlier this week that the reintroduced Bhavantar mechanism has once again created a win-win arrangement for farmers, industry and the government.

Farmers are protected against price distress and assured remunerative returns, while the processing industry is able to procure soybean at market-determined prices without supply disruptions or market distortions. At the same time, the Government avoids the logistical, storage and fiscal burdens associated with largescale physical procurement.

BBY is a price deficiency payment scheme under which farmers are assured the declared Minimum Support Price (MSP) for soybean without the Government resorting to physical procurement.

Under the scheme, if prevailing mandi prices fall below the MSP, the difference is directly credited to farmers’ Aadhaar-linked bank accounts through direct benefit transfer.

SEA data showed that India imported 8.75 lt of soybean oil during November-December of the oil year 2025-26 against 8.8 lt in the corresponding period of the previous oil year 2024-25. Oil year ranges from November to October.

Soybean prices in the domestic market have increased to levels of ₹5,200-5,250 from ₹4,500 a month ago. During the same period a year ago, soybean prices were ₹4,140 a quintal.

Published on January 23, 2026

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