Silver, gold ETFs jump up to 3% as tariff, geopolitical worries resurface. What should investors do?

Silver and gold ETFs rose up to 3% on Wednesday after prices of the two precious metals opened higher on the MCX. Investors turned to safe-haven assets amid escalating geopolitical tensions and renewed uncertainty around U.S. trade tariffs after the Supreme Court of the United States struck down several measures introduced by US President Donald Trump.

Earlier this week, on Monday, these commodity-based ETFs had declined nearly 3%.

Among silver ETFs, HDFC Silver ETF led the gains, rising around 3% to an intraday high of Rs 256.88 from its previous close of Rs 250.61. Nippon India Silver ETF, Tata Silver ETF, ICICI Prudential Silver ETF, and Zerodha Silver ETF advanced about 2% each, while other ETFs in the category gained around 1%.


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Zerodha Gold ETF, ICICI Prudential Gold ETF, and UTI Gold ETF were up by 3%. Union Gold ETF and The Wealth Company Gold ETF gained 2% each, while the other funds in the category were up by 1% or saw no change.

Manoj Kumar Jain of Prithvi Finmart said the global tariff of 10% imposed by Donald Trump came into effect on Monday, once again increasing uncertainty in global trade. Markets are also cautious ahead of the scheduled US–Iran talks on February 26 in Geneva regarding the nuclear deal.

Jain added that gold and silver prices are likely to remain volatile this week amid fluctuations in the dollar index, tensions between the United States and Iran, and ahead of Trump’s speech.

According to Jain, price volatility remains very high in both gold and silver. Silver may hold support at $68.00 per troy ounce, while gold could hold support at $4,880 per troy ounce on a closing basis this week.

MCX Gold futures due April 2026 were up Rs 1,103 or 0.7% to Rs 1,61,072 per 10 grams. Meanwhile, silver futures for March 5, 2026, delivery jumped by Rs 7,246 or 2.7% to Rs 2,67,990 per kg.

In the international market, gold prices climbed 0.5% to $5,174.76 per ounce as of 0159 GMT. Bullion had ended the previous session down more than 1% as investors booked profits after prices touched a three-week high earlier in the day. Meanwhile, spot silver gained 1% to $88.23 per ounce, after hitting a more than two-week high on Monday.

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Jigar Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst at Indusind Securities, said silver climbed above $88/oz, recovering losses from the previous session as tariff, geopolitical, and broader economic uncertainties boosted demand for safe-haven assets.

Gains in precious metals, however, may be capped amid diminishing expectations for near-term monetary easing by the Federal Reserve, Trivedi added.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

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