Athira Sethu
Kochi, 30 Jan 2026
On January 30, the prices of gold and silver tumbled considerably after touching record-breaking levels in the past few weeks.
The gold futures for April delivery on the MCX fell by 5% to trade at Rs. 1,75,100 per 10 grams. This happened just a day after gold touched its record-breaking price of Rs. 1,93,096 per 10 grams. The gold futures for February and June also fell by 6% in the initial trading hours.
The silver futures for March delivery fell by 6%, with the price touching Rs. 3,75,900 per kilogram. The silver contracts for May and July also saw similar declines of 6%.
The fall in the prices of gold and silver also impacted the exchange-traded funds (ETFs) of gold and silver. The Nippon India ETF Gold BeES, which had given returns of 104% in the past year, fell by 10% to trade at Rs. 132 per unit. Other gold ETFs such as ICICI Prudential Gold ETF and Axis Gold ETF also saw declines of 10% and 9%, respectively. Similarly, the silver ETFs such as Mirae Asset Silver ETF and Motilal Oswal Silver ETF also saw declines of 13% and 12.5%, respectively.
The primary cause for this decline is the speculation regarding the leadership of the US Federal Reserve. There are reports that US President Donald Trump may appoint a more “hawkish” head to succeed Jerome Powell, whose term expires in May.
Trump nominates Kevin Warsh as new Fed Chair:
The US President, Donald Trump nominated Kevin Warsh, a former Federal Reserve governor, to be the next US central bank chief, the US president announced Friday on social media.
“I have known Kevin for a long period of time, and have no doubt that he will go down as one of the GREAT Fed Chairmen, maybe the best,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. He further wrote, “On top of everything else, he is ‘central casting,’ and he will never let you down.”
