MCX Today: Gold Crashes 5%, Silver Bleeds 6% — Only Crude Is Green on a Sea-of-Red Monday
The Multi Commodity Exchange opened Monday, March 23, 2026 with a brutal sweep across precious and base metals, as the double shock of escalating Iran war rhetoric and rising global rate hike expectations triggered one of the sharpest broad-based commodity selloffs in recent months. Of the seven major MCX contracts tracked, six were in the red by mid-morning. Only crude oil managed to hold positive ground — and for reasons that make the rest of the board’s pain easier to understand.
Here is the full MCX snapshot as of Monday morning.
Silver — ₹2,13,166 per kg, down ₹13,606 or 6.00%
Silver took the hardest hit on the board, falling 6 percent in a single session and extending a four-week selloff that has now erased over 15 percent of the metal’s value. The collapse is being driven by markets pricing in a prolonged pause or outright rate hikes from major central banks in response to war-driven oil inflation — a dynamic that strips silver of its monetary appeal while simultaneously threatening its industrial demand outlook.
Gold — ₹1,37,159 per 10 grams, down ₹7,333 or 5.08%
Gold fell even harder in percentage terms than the earlier morning print suggested, with the MCX continuous contract settling deeper into losses at a 5.08 percent decline by the time the full market picture came through. The metal is now down over 10 percent in a week, caught in the same interest rate trap as silver. Globally, gold dropped below $4,400 per ounce as traders priced in the possibility of a Federal Reserve rate hike toward year-end — a scenario that was off the table entirely two months ago.
Copper — ₹1,077.30 per kg, down ₹30.70 or 2.77%
Copper’s 2.77 percent fall reflects a deteriorating global growth outlook rather than the rate-hike mechanism hurting gold and silver. As a primary industrial metal whose demand is tightly correlated with manufacturing activity, infrastructure spending, and economic momentum, copper weakens when war-driven energy inflation raises the probability of a global slowdown. A world paying $156 per barrel for oil is a world where factories slow, construction pipelines get reconsidered, and copper’s forward demand outlook dims.
Zinc — ₹304.85 per kg, down ₹2.80 or 0.91%
Zinc’s comparatively mild 0.91 percent decline reflects its more contained exposure to the immediate drivers of Monday’s selloff. As a metal used primarily in galvanising steel for construction and automotive applications, zinc tracks the broader industrial demand story but with less volatility than copper. The modest fall suggests the base metal complex is pricing in growth concerns without fully panicking — at least for now.
Aluminium — ₹329.25 per kg, down ₹2.05 or 0.62%
Aluminium recorded the smallest decline on the board among the metals in the red, falling just 0.62 percent. Aluminium’s energy-intensive production process means it has a complicated relationship with oil price surges — higher energy costs raise production costs, which can provide some price support even as demand concerns weigh. That dynamic appears to be partially offsetting Monday’s broader selling pressure.
Crude Oil — ₹9,369 per barrel, up ₹111 or 1.20%
Crude is the only green contract on the MCX board Monday and it tells you everything you need to know about why the rest of the board is red. MCX Crude rising 1.20 percent reflects the same Iran war escalation that is destroying metals — Trump’s threat to strike Iranian power plants and Tehran’s counter-threats around the Strait of Hormuz are keeping supply disruption fears alive and oil prices elevated. This is the commodity the war is directly about. Every other red number on this board is, in one way or another, a consequence of this single green one.
Natural Gas — ₹289.10 per unit, up ₹1.00 or 0.35%
Natural gas posted a modest 0.35 percent gain, moving in sympathy with crude as energy supply concerns from the Middle East conflict provide mild support to the broader energy complex. The move is contained and does not suggest any specific supply disruption in gas markets — it reflects the general risk premium that an active Hormuz conflict places under all energy prices.
What Monday’s MCX Board Is Telling You
The pattern across Monday’s MCX data is not random. It is a coherent market narrative playing out in real time: energy is up because the war is tightening supply, metals are down because the war is forcing rate hike expectations, and base metals are falling because prolonged energy-driven inflation threatens global growth. The commodity board on March 23 is not a collection of unrelated price moves. It is a single story — the Iran war’s economic consequences — told seven different ways simultaneously.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. All MCX data referenced is as of March 23, 2026 morning session.