MCX silver slumps 6% to ₹2.29 lakh/kg; gold futures recover amid sell-off in global markets

At around 2:22 pm, the white metal contract was trading 3.03% or ₹7,380 lower at ₹2,36,435 per kilogram.

In the international market, COMEX silver contracts (March expiry) plunged 16.7% to the session’s low of $63.90 per ounce. At the time of writing, it was trading 6.47% lower at $71.75 per ounce.

While gold futures for April delivery opened in the red, hitting the session’s low of ₹1,49,396 per 10 grams, down 1.76% on the MCX, it recovered and was trading in the positive territory. At the time of writing, it stood at ₹1,52,800 per 10 grams, marking a ₹729 or 0.48% increase.

Globally, COMEX Gold (April expiry) declined as much as 4.49% to the day’s low of $4,670 per ounce. It was trading 0.30% lower at $4,874.90 per ounce at the time of writing.

Why are precious metal futures falling?

As per media reports, the CME Group raised the the initial and maintenance margins requirements for COMEX 100 gold futures (up from 9% to 8%) and COMEX 5000 Silver Futures (increased from 18% to 15%).

Furthermore, effective from Thursday, February 5, the MCX also levied an additional margin of 4.5% on silver futures of all variants and 1% on gold futures of all variants, due to heightened.

Over and above the margin change effective on February 5, the MCX also levied an additional 2.5% margin in silver futures and 2% in gold futures contracts today, i.e., Friday, February 6.

The decline in precious metals also comes against the backdrop of a high-stakes meeting between Iran and the United States in Oman.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.04% higher at 97.85.