Gold and silver prices soar amid renewed tariff worries; see what lies ahead

Gold and silver prices are back in the trend after witnessing a sharp plunge from the record high levels in the last week of January. The rally in gold and silver prices on Friday and early Monday morning was led by renewed uncertainty over tariffs imposed by the US. The US Supreme Court on Friday struck down the reciprocal tariffs, terming them illegal. Following the decision, President Trump announced a global tariff 10% on all imports, which he later revised to 15% on Saturday.

The uncertainty around the tariffs and the existing trade deals of various countries drove the investor interest back to the precious metals. Gold prices on Friday jumped over 2%, above $5,000 per ounce and extended the rally on Monday morning by rallying over 1% to go past the $5,150 per ounce mark. Similarly, the silver prices too jumped over 7.7% on Friday to close at $84 per ounce and extended the rally further to trade over 3% higher on Monday morning at $86 per ounce.

Gold and Silver price on MCX

Following the global rally, the gold and silver prices rallied in the domestic markets as well. On the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), silver futures for March delivery zoomed ₹12,338, or 4.88%, to ₹2,65,282 per kg in 6,024 lots.

While gold futures for April delivery rallied by ₹2,946, or 1.88%, to ₹1,59,822 per 10 grams in a business turnover of 7,515 lots. In the international market, gold futures on the Comex advanced $96.61, or 1.9%, to $5,177.51 per ounce.

Gold and Silver ETFs

In tandem with the global gold and silver prices, the ETF prices also traded higher on Monday morning. The Nippon India ETF Gold BeES traded at ₹130 per unit, up by 2%, while Nippon India Silver ETF jumped 5.6% to ₹250 per unit on Monday morning. While other gold ETFs like GoldBeta, Tata Gold, Goldcase and HDFC Gold also jumped 2% on Monday. Similarly, other silver ETFs also jumped in line with silver prices. There was no major divergence in the prices as most of the units traded closer to their NAVs.

What lies ahead?

Gold and silver have seen a phenomenal rally in 2025 and early 2026. The rally witnessed a sharp reversal at the end of January, as gold and silver prices fell by over 20% and 45% in a few trading sessions. Experts believe it was a technical pullback after a sharp rally and believe the fundamental factors hold a strong bias towards precious metals. The correction was also led by cooling off geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and an improved US economic situation. However, with the latest development on tariffs, stalled US-Iran talks and could soon spur more uncertainty.

Experts also believe that, with tariffs ruled as illegal, it would force the exchequer to repay the collected tariffs to the nations. The amount is expected to put the burden of $175 billion on the US economy. Secondly, the underlying economic parameters have now shown little improvement in the situation than expected. The latest GDP growth rate for the US economy stood at 1.4% vs 4.3% in the previous quarter and much lower than the expected 2.8% growth.

The uncertainty over tariffs and weak macroeconomic numbers may put pressure on the dollar index, which is currently trading inversely to the safe-haven prices. The Dollar index slipped 0.7% from Friday’s intraday high level of $98.04 to $97.4 on Monday morning. Global investors are now trimming their bets on the US treasuries and increasing their bets towards the safe-haven assets.

The geopolitical tensions are back on the cards in the Middle East after the US-Iran talks were stalled over the nuclear negotiations. The Trump administration has given 10-15 days to agree to the terms of the deal, keeping the military action open otherwise. Experts believe that any activity in the Middle East region could further boost the rally in gold and silver prices.

Lastly, the Chinese markets opened after a long lunar year holiday celebration. Experts also believe that the resumption of industrial activity in China could bring back the supply shocks to silver, creating the Shanghai premium over the global prices. Additionally, higher trading volume in gold in the Shanghai region could spur demand fo gold prices as well.

In summary, the gold and silver prices are back in action after a brief pause led by increased tariff uncertainties, worries over the US’s economic status, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and more.