Gold, silver rally set to extend, but get ready for turbulence

Mumbai: The blistering rally in gold and silver that sent prices to record levels last year may be far from over with the momentum expected to spill over to 2026. Investors must, however, brace for sharp swings as the speculative interest could fuel sudden upturns and reversals. All the 10 commodity market participants polled by ET for their 2026 forecast on gold and silver said prices will continue to move up. Silver will outperform its more valuable counterpart during the year, said 80% of those polled. 126280769 "Both metals are entering 2026 with strong fundamentals, though returns may normalise," said Naveen Mathur, director - commodities and currencies, Anand Rathi Shares & Stock Brokers. "Gold should continue to perform steadily while silver, despite higher volatility, may continue to outperform gold in percentage terms."On silver, 60% of the poll participants said international prices could move up to at least $100 per ounce, nearly 40% above Wednesday’s levels of $72. Half of the 60% said the white metal will cross $110 per ounce, while 20% each expect price to end in the ranges of $80-90 and $90-100. Gold and silver have been among the top performing assets in 2025 though the reasons for the upmoves varied. Gold rose 62% supported by central bank buying, expectations of lower global interest rates, geopolitical uncertainty and a softer outlook for the dollar. While these factors also fuelled the 144% surge in silver, growing shortages of the metal, which is used as an industrial input for red-hot sectors such as solar panels, electric vehicles and AI-related technologies, contributed to the run up.“Silver has the combined status of industrial and precious metal, which makes it more attractive,” said Saumil Gandhi, senior analyst — Commodities at HDFC Securities. “Strong industrial and investment demand, combined with steady supply levels, has pushed the silver market into multiple years of deficit, and this trend will likely persist in 2026 as well.” Notwithstanding the bullish outlook, the consensus among all the poll participants was that investors must not rush to buy after the gains in 2025 and must be bought on dips. “It’s time to be cautious in allocation after the recent run up,” said Navneet Damani, head of researchcommodities & currency at Motilal Oswal Financial Services. “Buying aggression should be measured because bouts of correction (say be 7- 10%) could come in. That should be the time to accumulate again.”