Gold and silver exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded historic intraday gains of up to 18% on Monday morning as investors rushed toward safe-haven assets following escalating hostilities in West Asia. The rally was fueled by a sharp spike in international bullion prices, with silver outperforming gold, and a weakening Indian rupee, which hit 91.26 against the dollar. While equities witnessed a bloodbath (Sensex down over 1,000 points), precious metal ETFs acted as the primary portfolio hedge for diversified investors.
Precious metal ETFs saw unprecedented buying interest in early trade:
The rally in ETFs mirrors the chaos in domestic equity benchmarks, where the Nifty 50 plummeted below the 24,900mark, driving a massive rotation into bullion.
The rise in ETF prices reflects a vertical move in global metal prices:
Because ETFs are backed by physical bullion, their Net Asset Values (NAVs) have adjusted in real-time to these extreme price movements.
The current spike comes amidst an already robust year for metal funds: