The National Stock Exchange (NSE) is increasing margins for gold and silver contracts, a move aimed at managing risk amid extreme price volatility in these precious metals, the exchange announced through a circular on Wednesday.
In the circular, NSE stated it would levy an additional margin of 2.5 per cent on all silver future contracts and 1 per cent on all gold future contracts. These new margin rates will take effect from October 23, 2025.
NSE’s move to charge additional margins for gold and silver contracts effectively makes it more expensive for traders to hold or create new positions in gold and silver futures.
A margin is a good-faith deposit or collateral that a trader must secure in order to cover up potential losses on a futures contract.
By increasing this deposit, NSE effectively reduces the trader’s leverage. The additional margin is a hike on top of the normal margin requirement.
RBI gold reserves
The Reserve Bank’s gold reserves crossed 880 tonnes in the first half of 2025-26 with the central bank adding 0.2 tonnes in the last week of September. The total value of the gold was $95 billion as of September 26, 2025, according to the latest data from the RBI.
In the six months ended September, the RBI bought 0.6 tonnes (600 kilograms) of gold. A total of 0.2 tonnes (200 kg) and 0.4 tonnes (400 kg) of the yellow metal were bought in September and June, respectively.
The total gold reserve with the RBI increased to 880.18 tonnes at September-end from 879.58 tonnes at the end of 2024-25. In 2024-25, the RBI had added 54.13 tonnes of gold.
