The price of gold in India has dropped sharply over the past four days and paused on Friday, 16 October 2026, according to Goodreturns. The 24-carat rate slipped by Rs 39,800 per 100 grams in four days, and on Friday it showed no movement in early trade.
The day’s rates were Rs 14,744 per gram for 24-carat gold, Rs 13,515 per gram for 22-carat and Rs 11,058 per gram for 18-carat, according to HDFC Sky, Business Today and the Sunday Guardian, which all quoted the same per-gram figures. One summary of the Goodreturns page labelled the same numbers as per 10 grams, but the MCX gold contract was reported above Rs 1.48 lakh per 10 grams, which matches the per-gram reading, and IndiaX24 therefore uses the per-gram figures.
The fall can be put in proportion. At Rs 14,744 a gram, 100 grams of 24-carat gold costs Rs 14,74,400. A fall of Rs 39,800 per 100 grams is Rs 398 a gram. Adding it back gives a price four days earlier of about Rs 15,14,200 per 100 grams, so the fall was about 2.6 per cent, a calculation by IndiaX24.
The cause was a US inflation reading. Market expert Prithviraj Kothari said that gold and silver fell sharply after US inflation came in hotter than expected, with September consumer price inflation at 3.7 per cent against a forecast of 3.6 per cent, according to Goodreturns. International reports said the reading raised bets that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates in October, and that the dollar index and ten-year Treasury yields, which were near two-decade highs, weighed on gold, according to CNBC and FXStreet.
Gold fell more than 1 per cent on Wednesday, 14 October, its third straight session of losses, according to CNBC. In the international market, gold traded near 4,100 to 4,175 dollars an ounce on Thursday and Friday, according to FXStreet and Tradingpedia, and it moved above 4,150 dollars on Friday, rebounding after an equity sell-off drove safe-haven demand, according to the Goodreturns report.
Silver was quoted at Rs 2,30,000 a kilogram in the retail report, or Rs 23,000 for 100 grams, while the MCX silver contract was reported above Rs 2.13 lakh per kilogram earlier in the day. Both quotes are from the reports, and the difference between a retail rate and a futures price is normal, which is general background.
City rates were the same across the major centres. Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai showed uniform pricing on the day, according to the report, and leading jewellers such as Joyalukkas and Malabar Gold & Diamonds quoted 22-carat gold at Rs 13,515 per gram, according to the Sunday Guardian.
Mr Kothari said dips present buying opportunities at support levels, according to Goodreturns. IndiaX24 reports this as one analyst’s view and not as advice, and it notes that the same article describes a heavy four-day fall, so buyers face price risk in both directions.
The fall comes while festival demand is building. Diwali falls on 8 November this year, which is general calendar knowledge, and buying of gold is traditional around Dhanteras. The reports reviewed do not give demand data for jewellers this week, so IndiaX24 does not say whether the lower price has increased purchases.
Gold imports in September fell 81 per cent to 1.8 billion dollars, as IndiaX24 has reported, so the sharp fall in the domestic price has come after a sharp fall in buying. The reports reviewed do not connect the two.
IndiaX24 will report on the next major move in the gold rate and on the US Federal Reserve’s decision.
Image: Gold bullion bars (file photo; a stand-in image). Photo by Stevebidmead, licensed under CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.