Gold and silver prices decline
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
Spot gold fell below $4,000 an ounce, while silver dropped 6.1% in a day.
Oil-driven inflation worries and a Fed meeting keep bullion traders on edge.
Background
Gold and silver are precious metals that investors often buy as stores of value; gold is roughly 90% monetary and 10% commodity, while silver is about 50-50, according to Samuelson, an analyst cited in the material. Both metals had run to record highs, helped by central-bank buying, and are now unwinding that enthusiasm. The trigger: crude oil staying high amid tensions in West Asia over the US-Iran conflict, which reinforced inflation concerns and expectations of further Federal Reserve tightening. Over the past month international gold has fallen 5.89% and silver 15.49%, per PL Capital.
How it unfolded
- Oct 14, 2026A sharp decline hits the metals; sellers have capped recovery attempts since then, according to Enrich Money's Ponmudi R.
- Oct 17, 2026Silver for December delivery fell 6.1%, the largest one-day drop since June 24, settling at $55.88 an ounce, its lowest since Nov. 26; gold slipped 1.7% that day.
- Oct 22, 2026Domestic 24K gold fell 1.19% to Rs 1,44,340 per 10 grams and silver plunged 2.47% to Rs 2,04,002 per kg at open; in late U.S. trading spot gold was near $4,021.20 an ounce, down 2.88%, and spot silver near $54.44, down 5.90%.
- Oct 23, 2026Gold traded at $3,998 an ounce, down 0.5%, falling below $4,000 for the first time since July 2026; MCX December silver futures touched Rs 1,92,800 during the day, the lowest for that contract since it began trading.
Who’s saying what
- Analysts
- Aamir Makda of Choice Broking expects a moderately bearish trend and a sell-on-rise opportunity, with gold trading below its 200-day moving average and next major support at 1,42,950.
- Caution
- Ponmudi R of Enrich Money says the near-term bias is bearish and that oversold RSI alone does not confirm a reversal, with Rs 207,000–208,000 needed for silver to stabilise.
- Expert
- Ryan McIntyre of Sprott attributes silver's sharper fall to greater volatility, exposure to industrial demand and the unwinding of earlier speculative enthusiasm.
- Expert
- Robert Minter of Aberdeen Investments notes central-bank purchases drove gold to a record and are a strategic source of demand, but that same-size strategic buyer does not exist for silver.
Still unverified
December tightening remains the central market expectation, though the precise probabilities have fluctuated as traders reassess growth risks and the inflationary impact of elevated energy prices, per Kitco.