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Silver futures on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) hit a new all-time high of Rs 1,17,250 per kilogram in September contracts on Friday, extending a powerful rally that has captured investor attention and even shifted focus away from gold.The surge comes on the back of robust industrial demand, investment inflows, and expectations of monetary easing by the US Federal Reserve, with analysts projecting a long-term trajectory that could see the white metal climb to Rs 2,00,000/kg by 2028.Analysts point out that silver’s recent momentum has been fueled by a mix of global cues and domestic factors, including rupee weakness and strong support from the photovoltaic sector in China.With prices already on track for solid monthly gains, experts suggest that silver’s long-term structural outlook remains super bullish, with investors advised to accumulate on dips as the market builds towards record-setting levels in the coming years.Silver prices to scale higherManoj Kumar Jain of Prithvifinmart Commodity Research said, “Silver prices hit 5-week high in the international markets and prices hit lifetime high in the domestic markets. Strong industrial and investment demand is fueling this metal. A rupee weakness and Fed rate cut expectations are additionally supporting silver prices.”He expects silver to scale higher both in the near term and in the longer horizon, noting, “We are expecting that silver prices could test $42 per troy ounce and rupees 1,30,000 per one kilogram by the end of this year. Overall long-term trend is super bullish for silver and prices are likely to test $50 by the end of 2026 and $65 by the end of 2028. In Indian rupees, prices are likely to test rupees 1,60,000 by the end of 2026 and rupees 2,00,000 per kilogram by the end of 2028.”Jain added that support levels remain strong, pointing out that Silver prices are having major support at $35.80 per troy ounce and Rs 1,08,800 in the domestic markets. He suggests investors to accumulate silver on every dip until prices hold Rs 1,08,800 on a weekly closing basis for the long-term target of Rs 2,00,000 by the end of 2028.”Echoing similar optimism, Jigar Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst – Currencies & Commodities at Reliance Securities, said silver remains on track for healthy monthly gains.“Silver traded around $38.8/oz and was on track to gain about 6% in August, supported by a weaker dollar and lower Treasury yields as investors ramped up bets on Federal Reserve rate cuts,” he explained.On the industrial front, Trivedi highlighted the importance of solar demand, stating, “On the industrial side, silver demand gained support from strong data in China’s photovoltaic sector. Recent figures showed Chinese solar cell exports surged more than 70% in the first half of the year, driven by robust demand from India.”Looking ahead, he projected milestones in the coming years: For short term, he sees silver prices rallying up to Rs 1,20,000/kg by Diwali 2025, while in the long term, the prices can surge up to Rs 1,40,000/kg (by summer 2026).(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

India-focused funds experienced outflows for the fifth straight week, but the pace of redemptions eased to $78 million, down from $387 million the previous week and $700 million the week before, according to a report released by Elara Capital.The report further highlighted that all the redemptions of this week came from ETFs with a total outflow of $220 million, while long-only funds posted their first inflow in seven weeks of $140 million, led by HSBC Global Investment Funds and Ashoka WhiteOak ESG Funds.Also Read | Trump Tariff Turbulence: Should mutual fund investors rework their investment strategy?“Still, this marks the weakest phase for India flows since the large sell-off between Oct’24 and Mar’25, when $4.4bn was pulled out. In the current cycle, beginning Jul’25, outflows from India total $1.9bn, much of which has been redirected to China,” the report stated.The report highlights that investors have been increasingly preferring globally mandated funds, which provide diversified exposure across regions amid heightened uncertainty in global markets following Trump’s victory.Globally mandated funds remain the only category witnessing strong inflows, as most country-specific funds continue to see muted activity, except a modest recovery in China and Hong Kong flows (partly at India’s expense)“Historically, a rebound in global funds has signalled heightened uncertainty, with flows eventually redirected to specific regions once clarity emerges,” the report highlighted.Since March 2025, around 45% of the total equity inflows have been into global mandated funds and the present allocation at US 63%, Japan 5%, UK 3.3%, Canada 3%, China 2.5%, Switzerland 2.3%, France 2.3%, Germany 2.2%, Taiwan 2%, & India 1.7%.The global high-yield bond funds have witnessed their first outflows in 17 weeks to $127 million. The previous redemption phases in this segment were from November 2024 to December 2024 and March 2025 to 2025, which coincided with the sharp corrections across emerging markets, making such moves an early signal of broader risk-off sentiment, the report mentioned.Also Read | MF Scorecard: Bandhan Small Cap, Motilal Oswal Midcap among 5 funds delivering over 25% CAGR in 3 years The inflows in gold funds have surged from $3.8 billion to $130 million in one week’s time. On the other hand, in the last 14 weeks, gold funds have witnessed consistent inflows of around $41 billion.

The Indian rupee plunged to a record low, breaching the psychological 88-per-dollar mark for the first time amid mounting fears that US tariffs could undermine the country’s economic growth and strain its balance of payments, further hitting already fragile portfolio inflows, treasury dealers said. Before closing at 88.19, the rupee fell to 88.31 to the dollar, a level which likely saw the Reserve Bank of India stepping in, said bank treasury officials and currency dealers. “Only at around 88.30 level, there was some presence of the RBI, which helped reverse some early losses,” said a dealer with a mid-sized bank. The rupee, which had closed higher at 87.62 on Thursday, opened lower against the dollar, mirroring weakness across Asian markets. Strong dollar demand from importers and sustained outflows from domestic equity markets added pressure on the rupee.The sentiment for the currency was also bearish as India’s benchmark equity indices fell for the third session in a row, while the yield on the 10- year benchmark government bond climbed above 6.60% intra-day in Friday’s session. The rupee has closed August 0.68% lower, its fourth monthly fall in a row. Bank treasury dealers said that the market had anticipated intervention from the RBI to stem the slide, particularly around the 87.80-87.81 level. Yet, when the central bank remained on the sidelines, the rupee broke through its previous record low of 87.95, triggering a wave of stop losses and accelerating the decline, they said. “After 88 was crossed, importers scrambled to cover their positions, and the fall from 88 to 88.30 was within 15 minutes. The RBI likely intervened at the 88.30 level, slightly appreciating the rupee,” said Dilip Parmar, currency research analyst at HDFC Securities. Experts say the RBI let the rupee weaken to support exports in the face of high tariffs. “The RBI seems to have let the rupee weaken in the face of tariffs as a stimulus to the country’s exports. There will be some appreciation if the market sees some decisive intervention, or else 89.80 looks like the next support level,” said Sajal Gupta, head, forex and commodities at Nuvama. On Friday, the rupee also fell to a record low against the Chinese yuan. It fell to 12.3862 against the offshore yuan, Reuters reported. In the last four months, the rupee has fallen by around 6% against the yuan. The yuan-rupee exchange rate is crucial for India’s trade competitiveness, as both countries compete directly in US-bound sectors such as textiles, engineering goods, and chemicals, said Kunal Sodhani, head of treasury at Shinhan Bank. “A weaker rupee against the yuan makes Indian exports relatively cheaper than Chinese goods, helping to slightly curtail the impact of higher US tariffs and also helps in narrowing India’s trade deficit with China,” he said.