Gold and Silver ETF
Gold and silver exchange traded funds (ETFs) crashed on January 22 amid easing tariff concerns. Analysts have advised what investors should do – buy the dip or wait for more consolidation in the precious metals.
The ETFs are mirroring the fall in the gold and silver prices which saw a record rally earlier. Tata Silver ETF dropped as much as 21 percent to its day’s low, while Birla Sun Life Gold ETF fell 12 percent before seeing some partial recovery.
Why are ETFs falling today?
Trump said that he had reached the outlines of a deal with NATO on the island’s future. “Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1st,” Trump wrote on Truth Social after a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Davos. He did not give details of the deal.
Additionally, he also said that US will not use military force to seize Greenland. “I won’t do that,” Trump said. “Okay? Now everyone’s saying ‘oh, good’ that’s probably the biggest statement I made because people thought I would use force. I don’t have to use force, I don’t want to use force, I won’t use force,” he added.
“Today’s sharp slump in silver and gold ETFs, with some dropping as much as ~21%, reflects an abrupt shift in macro sentiment rather than a fundamental breakdown in precious metals,” said Justin Khoo, Senior Market Analyst – APAC, VT Market.
Earlier, gold and silver prices had sharply shot up after Trump threatened to use military force to acquire Greenland, triggering tensions between US and EU nations. The tariff threats further fuelled the geopolitical tensions and subsequently safe-haven assets like gold and silver due to a rise in risk-off sentiment.
Khoo added that while spot gold and silver still reflect historically elevated levels, the ETF correction looks like profit-taking and risk-rebalancing as equity markets rally.
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What should you do now?
The market is divided between those viewing corrections as buying opportunities and those warning of overheated conditions, said Tanvi Kanchan, Associate Director at Anand Rathi Share and Stock Brokers. She however added that despite price swings, fundamentals are compelling, driven by near-record industrial demand from solar panels, electric vehicles, and AI infrastructure.
“Given the current geopolitical landscape—from ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine to U.S.-China tensions and uncertainty around trade policies under the new Trump administration—precious metals maintain their relevance as portfolio hedges,” the analyst said.
Kanchan however cautioned that after such explosive gains in 2025, timing a single entry point is “treacherous”. “Rather than deploying capital all at once, investors should consider spreading purchases over the coming weeks or months. This approach captures the dip while protecting against further corrections that could see silver test,” she said.
For conservative investors, allocating 5-10 percent of portfolios to precious metals ETFs through systematic purchases reduces timing risk while maintaining exposure to an asset class that benefits from geopolitical instability and monetary policy uncertainty, according to the expert.
With structural drivers such as central-bank accumulation, long-term demand and inflation hedging undiminished, disciplined investors may see this correction as a strategic accumulation zone, but should avoid aggressive short-term speculation given ongoing volatility, Khoo from VT Market said.
Is there more volatility ahead?
Siddharth Maurya, Founder & Managing Director at Vibhavangal Anukulakara, said that the drastic correction in gold & silver ETFs is a result of profit-booking as well as unwinding of initial risk-off strategies when metal prices reached record highs.
“Although precious metals are supported by demand trends as well as supply gaps in the global market, the current scenario of correction in metal prices indicates volatility in the short term,” he added.
Nirpendra Yadav, Senior Commodity Research Analyst at Bonanza, said that with global uncertainties, central bank gold accumulation, and expectations of softer real interest rates over the medium term, gold continues to play an important portfolio-hedging and diversification role.
Harshal Dasani, Business Head at INVasset PMS, highlighted the sharper fall in silver ETFs compared to MCX silver, and attributed it to how Indian silver had moved into a speculative premium ahead of the Budget, rather than a sudden collapse in underlying global fundamentals.
“Over the last two sessions, silver on MCX had significantly outperformed COMEX because of expectations around an import duty tweak or a policy signal in the Budget,” he said. “That premium was not driven by physical tightness alone; it was largely sentiment-led and expectation-driven. Once it became clear that no immediate duty relief was forthcoming, that excess premium started unwinding. Silver ETFs, which are priced off domestic spot benchmarks but also reflect investor flows and arbitrage pressures, tend to react faster in such “premium collapse” phases. When retail investors rush to book profits, ETF units face additional selling pressure even if MCX futures are still stabilizing,” he added.
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