India, Jan. 2 -- Prices of gold and silver advanced as trading in 2026 kicked off, building on their best annual performances since 1979.

Gold gained 0.7% to $4,348.42 an ounce at 8:00 am in Singapore, while silver was up 1.5% at $72.7175. Palladium and platinum gained nearly 2% each. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was flat.

While traders have flagged the metals could do well in 2026 on further US interest-rate cuts and dollar weakness, there's near-term concern that broad portfolio index re-balancing may pressure prices. Given the metals have rallied, their presence in indices may have exceeded target allocations, prompting passive tracking funds to sell some contracts.

"We expect a massive 13% of aggregate open interest in Comex sil...