The precious metals complex continued its southward journey on Monday, but the movements in domestic and global markets were volatile as traders weighed in the latest hike in the CME Group margins for these metals.
Prospects of the US Fed turning hawkish and the dollar recovering, too, drove the complex lower. However, prices sashayed as some traders saw buying opportunities, though the bears seemed to have the upper hand currently.
In the morning, silver fell by over 10 per cent, gold by 7 per cent, platinum by 8 per cent and palladium by over 7 per cent as Friday’s hammering of the metals continued. But mid-day, the white precious metals pared its losses to 4 per cent and the yellow metal to 3.5 per cent. The palladium group metals (PGMs) edged up marginally.
Margin hike
The CME Group’s decision to hike the margins for gold futures from Monday to 8 per cent from 6 per cent and for silver to 15 per cent from 11 per cent unnerved investors. Platinum and palladium too will attract the same margin as silver.
Apurva Sheth, head of market perspective and research at Samco Securities, said from a price action perspective, the larger trend in gold remains clearly intact. The long-term structure continues to show higher highs and higher lows, and the recent decline looks more like a pause within an ongoing uptrend rather than the start of a reversal.
“What seems increasingly likely is a phase of time-wise consolidation. Gold may spend the next few months moving within a broad range, capped near ₹1,80,779 (per 10 gm) and supported around ₹1,36,185 and ₹1,32,294,” said Sheth.
Common ranges
Such ranges are common after sharp advances, allowing excess optimism to cool off and positioning to reset, without damaging the underlying trend, said the Samco official.
Traders said investors are switching to bonds and currencies as they feel the new Fed Chief, Kevin Warsh, will likely increase interest rates, which will lead to the strengthening of the dollar. The dollar index was up 0.4 per cent at 97.285.
At 2000 hours IST, gold was lower at $4,738 an ounce, down 3 per cent from Friday’s close but up from $4,546.96 early in the morning. Gold April futures on COMEX recovered to $4,788.11 an ounce from $4,546.96 earlier in the day, though they are lower than Friday’s close.
In the Mumbai spot market, gold closed higher at ₹1,48, 748 per gm, up from ₹1,42,270 at open and higher a tad from Sunday’s close. On MCX, gold April futures recovered to ₹1,49,197 for gm from ₹1,40,424 in the morning and higher than Sunday’s closing prices.
Chinese premium
Silver recovered to $82.27 an ounce. Silver March futures ruled at $81.89 an ounce with the market swinging between $71.2 and $87.97. Spot gold prices in Mumbai closed at ₹2,59,500 a kg after having opened at ₹2,36.496. It was still lower than Sunday’s closing price of ₹2,65,751.
On MCX, silver March futures dropped by recovered to ₹2,54,492 a kg from ₹2,28,002 earlier in the day. On Sunday, they ended at ₹2,65,652. On the Shanghai futures market, silver dropped to 21,255 yuan a kg ($95.07 an ounce) with prices in China enjoying a premium owing to demand from multiple sectors.
Platinum slipped below $2,000 earlier in the day, but recovered to $2,138 an ounce, up nearly a per cent from Friday’s close., Palladium also recovered to $1,735 an ounce after dropping to $1,587, up 1.85 per cent from the previous trading close.
Still higher YTD
Despite the fall over the past two sessions, gold is up nearly 10 per cent since the beginning of the year, while silver’s gains have been shaved to 12.5 per cent. Platinum is up over 3 per cent and palladium has increased by over 4per cent.
The precious metals complex has had a sparkling rally since January 2024, with gold soaring to a new high of $5,068 an ounce and silver to $122 an ounce, before they began to tumble.
Meanwhile, pointing to the COMEX report, traders said US multinational financial services firm, JP Morgan, closed its short positions in silver on Friday.
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Published on February 2, 2026
