Russian brokers reported a sharp increase in margin calls among retail clients following a steep decline in gold and silver prices in late January.
After a strong rally, precious metals saw a sudden correction: gold futures fell 17% from their peak, while silver futures dropped as much as 36%.
A margin call occurs when a broker requires an investor to add funds to their account or close positions to cover losses.
Executives at brokerage firms confirmed a significant rise in forced liquidations of long positions. During the sell-off, the volume of closed precious metals positions at some market participants was two to three times higher than the total recorded over the previous three months combined. Gold and silver accounted for the majority of these cases.
Gold’s 30-day volatility exceeded 44%, reaching its highest level since 2008. At the same time, futures on precious metals ranked among the most actively traded instruments on the Moscow Exchange in January, posting a record trading volume — the highest since 2009.