Gold peaked near $5,600 an ounce on January 29. The next day, after Donald Trump named Kevin Warsh to lead the Fed, silver fell about 30% in a session and gold had its worst day in decades. Indian buyers felt it within minutes.
On January 29, gold set a record near $5,600 an ounce and silver traded above $115, both after runs that would have seemed absurd a year earlier. Twenty-four hours later, silver had lost nearly a third of its value at one point in the day, its worst session since 1980, and gold had dropped about 10%, its worst day in more than four decades. In India, 24-carat gold fell 5.3% to about ₹1.61 lakh per 10 grams and silver 12.4% to about ₹3.53 lakh per kilogram on the same day.
What set it off
On January 30, President Donald Trump announced Kevin Warsh as his nominee to lead the Federal Reserve. Markets read Warsh as more cautious about inflation than expected, which meant interest rates might stay higher for longer. Higher US rates strengthen the dollar and make assets that pay no interest, such as gold and silver, less attractive. The dollar jumped, and metals priced in dollars fell.
Why the fall was so violent
A piece of news usually moves prices a few percent. This one moved silver thirty, because so much of the buying had been done with borrowed money. Traders in futures markets put down only a fraction of a contract’s value as margin. When prices fall, they must add more money or be sold out automatically. As prices dropped, forced selling triggered more forced selling, and exchanges raised margin requirements in the middle of it all, which forced still more selling.
A safe haven is safe from some risks. It is not safe from its own price.
What “safe” really means
Gold is called a safe haven because it tends to hold value over long periods and during crises that hurt other assets. That reputation is about decades, not days. When a safe asset has risen 80% in a year, a large share of its buyers are no longer seeking safety; they are chasing momentum, and momentum reverses. Families who bought jewellery for a wedding were untouched by the crash in any way that mattered. Traders who bought silver on borrowed money in late January learned what volatility means in a single afternoon.
Sources: All India Radio bullion report, January 30, 2026; CME and international market data.
- Gold peaked near $5,600 an ounce on January 29 after an extraordinary run.
- On January 30, silver fell about 30% intraday and gold about 10%.
- The trigger was the nomination of Kevin Warsh as Fed chair, which strengthened the dollar.
- In India, 24-carat gold fell 5.3% to about ₹1.61 lakh per 10g and silver 12.4% to about ₹3.53 lakh per kg.
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