Headlines:
Markets:
- Precious metals in the spotlight as gold and silver tumble hard, correcting lower
- Gold down 4.4% to $5,132 with the low breaking under $5,000 earlier
- Silver down 10.5% to $103.46 with the low breaking below $100 earlier
- USD leads, JPY lags on the day
- Dollar steadier amid selling in precious metals and traders digesting Kevin Warsh being Trump’s Fed chair pick
- European equities higher across the board; S&P 500 futures down 0.3% but well off earlier lows of a decline of 0.9%
- WTI crude oil down 0.5% to $65.10
- Bitcoin down 2.0% to $82,724
What a wild end to the week it’s all setting up to be. The showstoppers today are once again the same as it has been all through this month, that being precious metals. Gold and silver both tumbled hard today amid a further run of profit-taking after the warning from yesterday already.
Gold dropped by over 7% at one point, poised for its worst day since April 2013 with the fall breaking under $5,000. That before a slight recovery now to be down 4.4% to $5,132 with volatile swings still persisting. Meanwhile, silver crashed hard by over 16% at the lows in a break below $100 before some light recovery again to around $103 levels now – still down over 10% on the day.
The moves are coming at neck-breaking speeds, with extreme volatility kicking into gear for precious metals as January comes to an end.
That’s having some reverberations elsewhere too with the dollar holding firmer across the board. However, the greenback is seeing gains trimmed during the session and also right as Trump announced Kevin Warsh as his pick for the next Fed chair.
EUR/USD dipped down to around 1.1900 earlier before recovering to 1.1940 now, down 0.2% on the day. USD/JPY is seen up 0.5% to 153.85 but off earlier highs above 154.00 with yen-tervention risks still in play.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD is seen up 0.1% to 1.3505 and AUD/USD down 0.3% to 0.7020 with the dollar seeing gains ease a little from earlier.
In the equities space, things were also quite nervy amid all the chaos that is going on. European indices held calmer in rebounding from yesterday’s losses. But US futures were struggling earlier amid the unsettling mood in precious metals, with S&P 500 futures dropping by as low as 0.9% at one point. That before a slight recovery now to be down just 0.3% on the day.
In terms of data releases, there were quite a handful in Europe but all overshadowed by other market happenings. Euro area Q4 GDP reaffirmed more resilience in the economy towards the end of last year while early indications from Germany and Spain suggest that inflation pressures are still keeping more stubborn to start the new year.
It’s now back to gold and silver watch again in US trading later before the weekend.
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