Nifty, Sensex Slide As Precious Metals Soar To All-time Highs Amid US-China Tensions

The Indian stock market continued to tumble on Tuesday, 14 October 2025, with indices ending in red for the second consecutive trading session, largely due to the escalating US-China tensions. Amid heightened risk aversion and a growing demand for safe-haven assets, precious metals, including gold and silver, breached their fresh all-time highs.

Upon market closing on Tuesday, Nifty 50 ended at 25,125, down roughly 0.3% or 81 points, while the Sensex shed around 0.4% or 297 points to close at 82,029. In fact, the equity markets across the Asian continent felt the pressure, with regional indices tumbling amid weakening risk sentiments and investor unease.

On the other hand, gold and silver prices soared to their fresh all-time highs on Tuesday, 14 October 2025. While gold gained 1.6% to ₹1,29,430 per 10 grams, silver outshone every other commodity to breach the magical figure of ₹2 lakhs per kilogram in a few Indian states.

What’s Driving the Pullback in Indian Equity Markets?

The most obvious and primary reason is the US-China standoff. The latest salvo came from renewed tariff threats by the United States of America (USA) and export controls by China. While the US President, Mr Donald Trump, slapped a new 100% tariff on Chinese imports, Beijing, too, has warned of countermeasures against Washington.

Rising uncertainty over how deep the trade rift could go between the two financial powerhouses is spooking equity investors and disrupting global supply chain expectations. As risk appetite wanes, capital is rotating out of equities into assets like gold, silver, and bonds. The spillover effect is clearly showing in markets that are more sensitive to global cues.

Precious Metals in Limelight

Precious metals, including gold and silver, are the clear winners amid the equity downfall. Unprecedented rallies in both gold and silver show few signs of stopping anytime soon. On Tuesday, 14 October 2025, gold prices in India hit a new all-time high of ₹1,29,430 per 10 grams, after gaining 1.6%. In international markets, the spot gold price rose to $4,155.99 per ounce, up by 0.4%. US gold futures for December delivery also gained 0.3% to $4,174.30.

This euphoric rally has led to the diversion of funds from equities to gold on a global scale. Although experts recommend investors hold their existing positions, the time may not be ripe for fresh investments.

Nilesh Jain, Derivatives and Technical Head at Centrum Broking, said, “Global markets are also not supportive, and the euphoric rally in precious metals has led to some diversion of funds from equities to gold, riding on investors' fear of missing out. Investors can continue to hold precious metals, but the risk-reward is unfavourable for fresh purchases.”

Silver prices, buoyed by the same factors driving gold prices, also followed suit, with spot silver hitting a record high of $53.60 per ounce before retracting 0.9% to $51.86. In Indian markets, the silver price rose to around ₹1,89,100 per kg in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Ahmedabad. It even breached the magical figure of ₹2 lakh per kg in a few cities such as Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, and Chennai. The metal’s dual role as an industrial asset as well as an investment avenue means it’s benefiting from both safe-haven flows and supply constraints.

What Lies Ahead?

After ending in red in two consecutive trading sessions, the Indian equity market opened in green on Wednesday, 15 October 2025. At around 11:45 AM, the Nifty 50 is hovering around the 25,290 mark, up by almost 0.58%. Sensex, on the other hand, is hovering around the 82,460 mark, up by almost 0.56%.

Other Asian markets were also trading higher on Wednesday amid renewed hopes of the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index is up by 0.82% while the Topix index is up by 0.75%. South Korea’s Kospi index also jumped 1.2% while the Kosdaq surged 0.83%.

According to financial experts, markets may remain range-bound in the short term. However, major dips in banking and other profitable sectors can be utilised as buying opportunities. “Markets are expected to remain range-bound, with global trends, FII flows, and Q2FY26 earnings likely to guide near-term direction,” said Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Research at a private financial services company.

"Banking stocks lost some ground on Tuesday due to profit taking at higher levels, but further declines can be used as a buying opportunity," said Gaurav Sharma, Head of Research at Globe Capital.

Sources:

The Economic Times
Moneycontrol
CNN
The Economic Times
Livemint
The Economic Times
Reuters
Moneycontrol
Livemint
Livemint
The Economic Times