Amid 16% crash in silver prices, is MCX open for Budget on February 1? Here's what we know

Amid 16% crash in silver prices, is MCX open for Budget on February 1? Here's what we know

• MCX, BSE, NSE to open for trading on Sunday, Feb 1, for Budget 2026.
• Silver prices plunged up to 16% and gold fell up to 9% on MCX ahead of Budget
• Gold and silver prices affected by US Fed chair speculation; Warsh favored.

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With silver prices crashing up to 16% and gold prices falling up to 9%, precious metal investors should know that the commodity exchange MCX will be open on February 1 for Union Budget 2026.

Stock exchanges BSE and NSE will also stay open on February 1 despite it being a Sunday.

Earlier this month, MCX said in a circular, "On account of presentation of Union Budget, a special live trading session will be held on Sunday, February 1, 2026. The market timings shall be as under: Special Session 08:45 a.m. to 08:59 a.m.; Trading Session 09:00 a.m. to 05:00 p.m.; Client Code Modification Session 09:00 a.m. to 05:15 p.m."

MCX March silver contract plunged 16% to Rs 3,36,154 per kg on January 30.

MCX April gold contract fell 8% to Rs 169,600 per 10 gm.

Spot silver on COMEX fell over 14% at $99.77 an ounce as investors booked profits and the US dollar strengthened on the imminent appointment of a new US Federal Reserve Chair.

"Although a significant part of the move in the rise in silver has been based upon sound fundamentals, there was clearly a speculative excess within the market and I think that's getting blown off," independent analyst Ross Norman told Reuters.

Gold prices slid below $5,000/ounce on COMEX on speculation that the US Federal Reserve could get a more hawkish chair, though the metal remained on track for its strongest monthly gain since 1999 on safe-haven demand.

While Warsh, a former Fed governor, is seen as an advocate of lower interest rates, he is also considered to be one of the less radical choices among the various names that have been raised and is perhaps more cautious on heavy monetary stimulus than others.

Warsh "is on record as saying he prefers lower rates", said Damien Boey, a portfolio strategist at Wilson Asset Management in Sydney. "But the trade-off that he makes with lower rates is that he wants the Fed to have a smaller balance sheet."

"The markets are reacting as if thinking: 'What would the world look like with a smaller Fed balance sheet?'"

On the prediction market site Polymarket, the implied probability of contracts betting that Trump will nominate Warsh to lead the central bank surged to 94% from 35% earlier in the day.

The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury bond was last up 4.6 basis points at 4.273%. Fed funds futures are pricing an implied 84.6% probability that the U.S. central bank will hold steady on rates at its next meeting in March, slightly lower than the previous day's 87.5% chance, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.