Over recent sessions, precious metals markets have seen sharp and often volatile price action. In just a week, silver prices plunged nearly 40% from January 29 highs.
The nomination of Kevin Warsh for the next chair of the US Federal Reserve, the strengthening of the US Dollar, and easing geopolitical uncertainties all weighed on these metals. With the ongoing volatility in the market, exchanges both domestic and international took the call to rein in speculative bets.
Additional margins: Here is what has happened
MCX levies additional margins on all contracts of Gold and Silver
The Multi Commodity Exchange Clearing Corporation (MCXCCL), a subsidiary of MCX, has implemented additional margin hikes on all futures contracts of gold and silver.
For gold futures, an additional 1% margin was levied effective from Thursday, February 5, and then another 2% margin came into effect from Friday, February 6, 2026. This takes the total additional margin requirement for all variants of gold futures to 3%.
A sharper hike was seen for silver futures, as an additional 4.5% margin was levied on February 5, and the exchange, in the same filing, announced that further additional margins of 2.5% would come into effect a day after, on February 6, taking the total additional margin requirement to 7% for all variants of silver futures.
It is important to note that these additional margins are levied over the regular ongoing margins.
Margins hiked in the international commodity markets as well.
CME Group hikes margins for Gold and Silver
The CME Group, which owns and operates the COMEX exchange, announced margin hikes for various contracts of gold, silver, and other commodities.
The margin requirements for various gold contracts have been increased to 9% from the current 8% for non-heightened risk profiles, while the initial margins for heightened risk profiles have been raised to 9.9% from the current 8.8%.
Silver, being the more volatile metal, has been subjected to sharper hikes, as the new margins for non-heightened risk profiles have been increased to 18% from the current 15%. For heightened risk profiles, the margin requirement has been raised to 19.8% from the initial 16.5%.
CME Group margin hikes will come into effect after the close of business on February 6, 2026.
What are margin requirements and why are they raised?
Margin requirement in futures trading refers to the minimum amount of capital a trader must keep in their account to hold a position, often referred to as performance bond requirements by the CME Group. Additional margin is the extra money paid on top of the ongoing margins. These are levied in case there is extreme volatility in the markets.
Margins are typically raised to deter speculative trade in the market.