Gold, silver ETFs gain on equity markets meltdown

The bearish and volatile trend in the equity markets has pushed seasoned investors to place their bets on exchange traded funds with underlying precious metals, which are riding high on geopolitical tensions across the globe. Gold ETFs jumped 5-8 per cent as the demand for the yellow metal on stock exchanges increased with meltdown in key equity indices and individual stocks. Silver ETFs were up 8 per cent to 9 per cent. Gold AUM increased to ₹1.84 lakh crore in January against ₹51,839 crore logged in the same period last year. Similarly, silver AUM increased to ₹1.17 lakh crore from ₹13,566 crore in same period last year. Inflows into gold ETF has touched ₹96,195 crore last year and it remained strong in January at ₹24,040 crore as investors used the fall in gold prices to invest more in the yellow metal. The net inflow in silver ETFs more than doubled in January to ₹9,463 crore compared to an inflow of ₹3,962 crore in December 2025. The silver ETFs AUM had surged 61 per cent to hit a new high of ₹1.16 lakh crore in January against ₹72,652 crore in December on back of sharp jump in prices. Akshat Garg, Head - Research & Product, Choice Wealth said when the Nifty slipped down 1.2 per cent to 24,865 points and uncertainty gripped markets again, investors confidence wobbles with money looking for safe investment avenues. Gold ETF marked the ninth straight month of net inflows in January with silver drawing attention partly as a defensive play with growing industrial demand from electric vehicles and solar manufacturing, he said. Investors today are more aware of risk concentration and they are more open to holding a mix of growth assets and defensive buffers, he added. Tanvi Kanchan, Associate Director, Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers said heightened geopolitical tension and conflict across West Asia lead to a sharp surge in gold and silver prices amid widespread sell-off in equity markets. While gold and silver are close to all-time high, there are no catalysts to pull down prices in the near term, she said. With ongoing concerns on a full scale war increasing geopolitical uncertainty, the rally in precious metals will find good support as investors look to hedge their portfolio and increase allocations, she said. Published on March 2, 2026