How to Trade Silver on MCX

To trade silver on MCX, first identify the exact futures contract, its expiry and the unit behind the quoted price. Then check commodity-segment access, current margin and your broker’s delivery cutoff. Standard Silver, Mini and Micro quote per kilogram, while Silver100 uses a different quotation unit. A small screen-price move can create a much larger position gain or loss. Futures can also create physical delivery obligations.

Which silver contract is on the order ticket?

MCX’s specifications distinguish contract weight from the weight represented by the price quote. Both are needed to calculate the rupee value of a price movement. A tick is the smallest permitted change in the quoted price. A smaller contract is a different quantity, with its own expiry and available buyers and sellers.

For Silver100, the contract contains several quotation units. Its tick value is 100 ÷ 10 × ₹1 = ₹10. Treating the price as rupees per kilogram would give the wrong contract value. Do not transfer a formula between variants without checking the units.

The same distinction matters when reading market depth: verify whether your broker shows quantity as contracts or the underlying amount. A displayed price alone says nothing about the cost of closing your full position.

How much is one lot of silver on MCX?

It depends on which contract you pick. The lot is the trading unit in the table above. What a one-rupee move in the quoted price is worth is the trading unit divided by the quotation unit, because the quote is per kg for three contracts and per 10 grams for Silver100.

To find the exposure of one lot, multiply the quoted price by the quantity in the quote's unit. For Silver Mini at a made-up Rs 1,15,000 per kg, one lot is 5 x 1,15,000 = Rs 5,75,000, as in the worked example. For Silver100 at a made-up Rs 11,500 per 10 grams, one lot is 10 x 11,500 = Rs 1,15,000. The minimum money you need is the broker's margin on that exposure plus a buffer for losses, and the broker shows it on the order screen. We do not quote a margin figure because it changes.

Worked example: a Silver Mini round trip

Assume a fictional purchase of a Silver Mini futures contract at ₹115,000 per kg and a later sale at ₹116,200 per kg. The cited trading unit is 5 kg. These are made-up prices for explaining the arithmetic, not an entry or target recommendation.

If the same fictional purchase were closed at ₹113,800 per kg instead, the gross loss would be ₹6,000. On a standard 30 kg contract, the same ₹1,200-per-kg change would produce ₹36,000 of gross gain or loss. Contract weight changes the exposure even when the price move is identical.

These figures describe the economic result over the round trip. They are not a promise that every cash movement will occur only when you close. Futures settlement and margin adjustments can create cash requirements while the position remains open.

How to start trading silver on MCX, step by step

• Check that your broker offers MCX and that the commodity segment is switched on for your account. Equity accounts often need a separate activation.
• Decide how much you can lose on one trade in rupees, before you look at any chart.
• Pick the contract that fits that loss: use the table above to see what a Rs 1 move costs on each.
• Select the exact expiry. Read its trading unit, quotation unit, last trading day and delivery rules.
• Look at the margin the broker asks for that contract and quantity, and keep extra cash for daily settlement.
• Place a limit or market order, then confirm what was actually filled.
• Plan the exit before you enter. If you do not want delivery, close or roll the position before your broker's cutoff, which can be earlier than the exchange's.
• Write the trade in your journal with the reason, stop, exit and charges.

The how to start commodity trading guide covers the account side, and the MCX trading basics page covers the exchange. Our MCX trading cost calculator helps estimate charges.

Margin is a deposit, not the purchase value or loss limit

The ₹575,000 example contract value is the amount of silver exposure. The initial margin is the deposit needed to support the position. Use the current exchange-clearing requirement and your broker’s requirement for the selected expiry; this guide does not assume a fixed percentage.

MCX’s specifications allow additional or special margin and direct readers to the latest MCX Clearing circulars. Delivery-related requirements can also matter near expiry. A percentage copied from an old article cannot establish today’s cash requirement.

A loss can exceed the margin originally posted. Check how daily settlement debits, additional margin and the broker’s process for closing positions when funds fall short affect the account. A planned stop describes an intended exit; it cannot guarantee that an order will execute at that exact price.

What moves silver prices

Silver is both a precious metal and an industrial input, so it responds to two sets of forces. None of the following tells you where the price will go next. They are the usual reasons for moves.

• World prices: MCX silver follows global silver prices, with COMEX in New York a common reference for traders.
• The rupee: silver is priced in dollars abroad, so a weaker rupee lifts the rupee price even if the dollar price is flat.
• Industrial demand: electronics, solar panels and other manufacturing use silver, so demand news can matter.
• Investor demand: when investors move towards or away from precious metals, silver often moves with gold, and usually by larger percentages.
• Interest rates and the dollar: these tend to affect the whole precious-metals group.
• Import duty and tax changes in India: these change the local price against the world price.

The gold-silver ratio

The gold-silver ratio is the gold price divided by the silver price in the same weight. Traders watch it as a rough guide to how expensive one metal is against the other. As a made-up example, if gold were Rs 1,00,000 per 10 grams, that is Rs 10,000 per gram. If silver were Rs 1,15,000 per kg, that is Rs 115 per gram. The ratio is 10,000 / 115, about 87. A high or low ratio does not tell you that either metal will rise. Our gold vs silver trading page compares the two.

Delivery can matter before the last trading day

The cited standard Silver specification has a staggered tender period, meaning a window when delivery can be assigned before final expiry. Remaining open positions at expiry are marked for compulsory delivery. The contract is therefore different from a cash-settled index derivative.

The relevant cutoff is not simply the final day printed on the contract. Check the tender calendar and your broker’s earlier restrictions. If a broker does not support delivery, its required closing time may precede the exchange’s last trading time. Do not assume an automatic closeout will succeed.

The standard specification uses the fifth calendar day of the expiry month, with a preceding-working-day holiday adjustment. The cited Mini and Micro specifications use the last calendar day, also adjusted earlier for a holiday. Always read the exact series; applying the standard expiry date to Mini creates an avoidable error.

A rollover means closing an expiring position and opening another expiry. The second trade has a new price and costs. It does not erase a loss on the first contract or automatically cancel delivery already assigned.

Trading access and order checks

• Confirm that the broker provides the MCX commodity segment and that it is enabled for your account.
• Select futures rather than an option with a similar name.
• Read the expiry, trading unit, quotation unit and tick value.
• Check current margin and delivery restrictions before submitting an order.
• Compare bid, ask and available quantity for the chosen expiry.
• After submission, confirm actual execution and any unfilled quantity.

The exchange’s product page also lists silver options. Their premium and expiry obligations differ from futures. Buying a premium-based product is not equivalent to posting futures margin, and an option’s expiry can have consequences for its underlying futures contract. Read that option specification separately.

MCX silver vs silver ETF vs physical silver

Which is better depends on what you want. A futures contract suits a short-term view held with a clear exit and good risk control. A fund or physical metal suits holding without expiry or margin. This guide does not say which to choose.

MCX silver trading hours

MCX silver is a non-agri contract. It opens at 9:00 am. Its closing time changes with the US daylight-saving shift. The close was 11:30 pm until 30 Oct 2026. From 2 Nov 2026 to 12 Mar 2027 it is 11:55 pm (MCX/TRD/550/2026). A broker bulletin says intraday positions are squared off 10 minutes before the close, and your own broker may differ. The commodity market timings page covers the wider pattern.

Costs, hours and the record to keep

For a closed trade, reconcile gross price profit with brokerage, applicable statutory charges and other account debits. Physical delivery can add obligations that a simple round-trip example does not cover. Check the broker’s bill rather than using a guessed all-in cost.

MCX publishes seasonal session changes and holiday schedules. Verify the applicable trading day and session close instead of treating a general evening-hour range as permanent. The contract’s tender or broker cutoff may be earlier than the session close.

Keep the full symbol, expiry, number of contracts, price units, executions and charges in your manual journal. Compare the planned and actual exit using slippage, meaning the difference from the reference price. For another energy contract with different settlement mechanics, see MCX crude oil trading.

Silver trading questions

Sources

• MCX: silver products and editions (checked 16 October 2026).
• MCX: standard Silver futures; Silver Mini futures (opened 16 October 2026).
• MCX: Silver Micro futures; Silver100 futures (opened 16 October 2026).