The precious metals complex plunged on Friday with investors booking profits, as they saw no more confrontation between US President Donald Trump and the US Fed.
Over the past few weeks, investors switched to gold from currencies and bonds in view of the threat to the US Fed. With Trump nominating Kevin Warsh as the next Fed Chief, the global precious metals began to cool.
All the metals nosedived, silver over 18 per cent, and as a fallout, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) of these gold and silver plunged 9-12 per cent and 18-23 per cent, respectively, on Friday as investors rushed to book profit after months of relentless rally.
Silver worst hit
At 19:30 hours IST, gold fell to $5,008 an ounce and gold April futures on COMEX slid to $5,027.81, a fall of over 10 per cent at one point in time. In the Mumbai spot market, gold ended at ₹1,65,795 per 10 gm, down from ₹1,75,340. On MCX, gold April futures were quoted at ₹1,68,938, an over 8 per cent drop from Thursday.
Silver, which had a ‘golden’ run over the past couple of months, got hit badly with prices slipping below $100 an ounce to $98.93 an ounce. March futures on COMEX ruled at $98.58. In the Mumbai market, the white precious metal plunged to ₹3,39,350 a kg from ₹3,85,933 yesterday. On MCX, silver March contracts slipped to ₹3,37,945.
The trend reflected in gold ETFs of Nippon India AMC, HDFC AMC and DSP Mutual Fund declining 10-13 per cent. Leading silver ETFs of Nippon India AMC, Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC and ICICI Pru AMC fell by 18-20 per cent.
Gold ETFs investment
In 2025, Indians invested $4.37 billion in gold ETFs, with the holdings in these funds rising by 65 per cent, World Gold Council data showed. The overall assets under ETF management is $14 billion. Earlier this week, gold ran up to a record high of $5,600 and silver to $118 an ounce.
Dr Renisha Chainani, Head of Research, Augmont, said gold and silver prices fell sharply amid a stronger dollar, margin pressure and profit-booking at higher levels.
Prithviraj Kothari, Managing Director at RiddiSiddhi Bullions Ltd., President of India Bullion and Jewellers Association Ltd. and Chairman, said despite the pullback, gold remains up around 25 per cent and silver up by 45 per cent year-to-date and is still on track for its strongest monthly performance since 1999 after multiple record highs.
The volatility was elevated following the US Fed’s decision to hold rates, with inflation still above target. Strong speculative positioning, firm US yields and a resilient dollar are near-term headwinds, though structural support for gold and silver remains intact, he said.
Satish Dondapati, Fund Manager, Kotak Mutual Fund, said the strengthening of the dollar was one of the main reasons for the selloff in gold and silver.
PGMs too crash
Investors also felt that the recent rally was stretched and unsustainable, leading to profit-booking at higher levels. In addition, weakness in the equity market triggered selling across other asset classes, including gold and silver, he said.
Nikunj Saraf, CEO, Choice Wealth, said a hawkish Fed chair pick under President Trump sparked global fears of tighter policy, strengthening the US Dollar and crushing overbought metals.
The dip tests investors conviction to avoid panic selling and eye rebounds from central bank demand, he said.
Among platinum group of metals (PGMs), platinum fell over 12 per cent to $2,288. 20 and palladium by nearly 10 per cent to $1,827.50 an ounce.
WIth inputs from Subramani Ra Mancombu
Published on January 30, 2026
