Stocks Fall With Futures as Gold, Silver Whipsaw: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — Stocks declined, with technology stocks leading, and precious metals had a volatile start to the week as sentiment weakened amid uncertainty over the outlook for interest rates.
The MSCI All Country World Index fell 0.3% to extend its losses to a third day, with the Asian gauge tumbling 1.5%. South Korea’s Kospi — a bellwether for artificial intelligence investments — plunged 3.3%, while Nasdaq 100 Index futures dropped 1%. Treasury 10-year yields advanced one basis point to 4.25%.
Gold fell 3.4% and silver dropped 3.5% to extend their steep slide on Friday after a blistering rally since last year. The declines on Friday accentuated after the dollar strengthened as President Donald Trump nominated Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve chair. The dollar gained against most of its Group-of-10 peers.
“Market sentiment is definitely very nervous this morning after the volatility we saw on Friday,” said Nick Twidale, chief market analyst at AT Global Markets. “The big moves in metals are the real catalyst. When we see these kind of historical moves, investor confidence drops hard not just for gold but the overall market.”
The price action points to mounting instability after a prolonged rally in precious metals and successive record highs in equities driven by billions in AI investment. At the same time, investors are reassessing valuations and recalibrating expectations for monetary policy under a potential Warsh-led Fed amid repeated calls by Trump to lower rates.
With the pick of Warsh — an economist known as much for his fierce criticism of the central bank as his views on monetary policy — the debate has abruptly shifted from short-term rates to the Fed’s $6.6 trillion balance sheet and its very role in markets.
The selection should help stabilize the dollar and reduce, though not eliminate, the asymmetric risk of deep, extended US currency weakness, according to Krishna Guha at Evercore.
“Markets are volatile this morning as investors unwind crowded positions following a sharp shift in expectations triggered by President Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair,” said Tareck Horchani, head of prime brokerage dealing at Maybank Securities Singapore.
If confirmed by the Senate, the former Fed governor will succeed Jerome Powell when his term ends in May. Warsh, 55, aligned himself with Trump in 2025 by arguing publicly for lower rates, going against his longstanding reputation as an inflation hawk. The US president said Friday he had not asked Warsh to commit to cuts.
In technology news, Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang said the company’s proposed $100 billion investment in OpenAI was “never a commitment” and that the company would consider any funding rounds “one at a time.”
What Bloomberg strategists say…
Nasdaq futures are set to grind lower as Nvidia starts to prick the AI hype bubble with comments from CEO Jensen Huang that investments in OpenAI may not be as big as previously expected. The focus on Alphabet and Amazon earnings this week will be forward guidance and capital spending plans.
— Mark Cranfield, MLIV strategist. For full analysis, click here.
In political news, the US government stumbled into a partial shutdown Saturday while waiting for the House to approve a funding deal Trump worked out with Democrats following a national uproar over Border Patrol agents’ killing of a US citizen in Minneapolis.
Elsewhere in commodities, oil plunged as traders eye Trump’s next steps on Iran and progress on Ukraine peace talks. Brent traded near $67 a barrel, after adding 16% last month, while West Texas Intermediate held around $63.
Also, OPEC+ ratified plans to keep production steady in March — the last part of a three-month supply freeze, even after prices hit a four-month high on the prospect of a US strike against Iran.
Much of the attention was in the precious metals markets. Gold fell, following its biggest plunge in more than a decade, and silver whipsawed in choppy trading after a dramatic pullback from record highs.
Over the last year, precious metals have risen to all-time highs that have shocked even seasoned traders. The rally accelerated sharply in January, as investors piled into gold and silver on renewed concerns about geopolitical upheaval, currency debasement and the independence of the Fed. A wave of buying from Chinese speculators added froth to the rally.
“Sentiment has turned defensive – but this is mainly risk trimming – not so much panic,” said Billy Leung, an investment strategist at Global X Management. “Overall sentiment is weak.”
Corporate News:
Oracle Corp. said it plans to raise $45 billion to $50 billion in 2026 to build additional capacity for its cloud infrastructure through a combination of debt and equity sales. Waymo, Alphabet Inc.’s autonomous driving unit, is aiming to raise about $16 billion in a financing round that would value the unit at nearly $110 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. BYD Co. said sales dropped 30% in January, underscoring the challenges facing the electric vehicle maker’s efforts to boost sales just as a winding back of subsidies hurts demand in China. Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
S&P 500 futures fell 0.8% as of 11:52 a.m. Tokyo time Japan’s Topix rose 0.3% Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.1% Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.9% The Shanghai Composite fell 0.7% Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.6% Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro rose 0.2% to $1.1869 The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 155.02 per dollar The offshore yuan rose 0.1% to 6.9484 per dollar Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin rose 0.2% to $76,617.18 Ether fell 1% to $2,266.6 Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced one basis point to 4.25% Japan’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 2.270% Australia’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 4.83% Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 3.8% to $62.71 a barrel Spot gold fell 3.3% to $4,730.41 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Winnie Hsu and Gabrielle Ng.
©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
