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Weekly financial summary: US President Trump nominates the next Federal Reserve Chair, causing significant fluctuations in gold prices within a single day. What changes lie ahead for global markets?

Last Friday, US President Trump officially nominated Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve Chair. Following the announcement, the precious metals market reacted sharply — spot gold dropped by about 9% in a day, while silver experienced large intraday volatility, falling nearly 37%. Meanwhile, the three major US stock indexes generally declined, tech stocks were under pressure, and the VIX fear index edged up slightly. Additionally, OPEC+ announced it would continue to pause production increases in March, with oil prices remaining near six-month highs. What other key developments are happening in global markets? Get a quick overview here!

Content compiled by the 'Harbor Family Office' under Henry Group. It does not constitute any investment or trading advice. Stay tuned.

Hotspot Focus >>>

– US President Trump announces the nomination of Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve Chair.

On January 30 local time, US President Trump announced the nomination of Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve Chair. Market analysts noted that Warsh is considered a more “hawkish” candidate, and following the announcement, the precious metals market saw noticeable fluctuations. Warsh has previously called for reform within the Federal Reserve and advocated for reducing the size of its balance sheet.

– After the US Treasury Secretary, Besant, stated that the US adheres to a strong dollar policy, the dollar rebounded from a near four-year low following several days of sharp declines.

The dollar fell for several consecutive days last week, and after the yen surged, US Treasury Secretary Besant reaffirmed that the US follows a strong dollar policy. He also denied that the US was currently intervening in the forex market to support the yen. These comments successfully boosted the dollar, pulling it up from a near four-year low.

– The Federal Reserve maintained interest rates unchanged last Wednesday, with Chairman Powell noting a significant improvement in the economic growth outlook.

Last Wednesday, the Federal Reserve decided to keep the existing interest rate range unchanged at 3.50%-3.75%. The vote on this interest rate decision was 10 in favor and two against. Current Fed Chair Powell indicated that the economic growth outlook has significantly improved, while inflation and employment risks have decreased, implying there is no urgent need to further reduce borrowing costs.

– Gold and silver plummeted as the precious metals market experienced a sell-off.

Precious metal prices saw a rare plunge last Friday. By the close of trading on Friday, spot gold had fallen by about 9%, while spot silver plummeted over 26%, having once dropped nearly 37% during the session. Market analysts pointed out that this sell-off in precious metals was triggered by President Trump's nomination of Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve Chair. However, many institutional experts believe that despite the short-term volatility, the macro logic supporting gold and tangible assets remains solid in the long term.

– OPEC+ announced it will continue to pause production increases in March.

On February 1st local time, OPEC+ member countries agreed to maintain the current policy of pausing production increases, meaning crude oil output levels will remain unchanged in March. Recently, oil prices have been driven higher amid market focus on geopolitical uncertainties in the Middle East affecting supply and demand expectations, with prices currently at a six-month high.

Stock market >>>

– US Market: Trump nominates the next Federal Reserve Chair candidate; US three major indexes fall in unison

US President Trump announced Kevin Warsh as his nominee for the next Federal Reserve Chair. Following the announcement, markets began pricing in a more hawkish expectation for future Fed policy. Coupled with the US PPI inflation year-over-year figure surpassing expectations at 3%, all three major US stock indexes declined. The Nasdaq index fell nearly 1%, while the VIX fear index edged up slightly.

As of last Friday's close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.36% to 48,892.47 points; the S&P 500 Index dropped 0.43% to 6,939.03 points; and the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.94% to 23,461.816 points. The VIX volatility index rose 3.24% to 16.88. In terms of sector indices, the U.S. energy ETF led the gains in January with an increase of over 14%, while semiconductor, regional banking, and banking sector indices also showed strong performances.

Last Friday, the Mag 7 index fell 0.37%, but gained 0.84% for the week. Tesla rose 3.32%, Apple increased by 0.46%, NVIDIA fell 0.72%, Microsoft declined 0.74%, Amazon dropped 1.01%, and Meta fell nearly 3%. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index fell 2.36% on Friday to 7,732.28 points, with BYD dropping 4.4%, Pony AI, Tencent, and Xpeng falling more than 3%.

– European markets: European stocks generally closed higher last Friday, with the pan-European index gaining over 3% in January.

European stocks generally closed higher last Friday, with the pan-European index rising over 3% in January. The pan-European STOXX 600 Index rose 0.64% to 611.00 points, gaining 0.44% last week and 3.18% in January. The pan-European STOXX 50 Index climbed 0.95% to 5,947.81 points, declining 0.01% last week but increasing 2.70% in January. On the individual stock front, Adidas rose nearly 4%, Deutsche Bank climbed 2.6%, and Nokia surged 5.73%.

Among major indices, the German DAX Index rose 0.94% to 24,538.81 points, but fell 1.45% last week; the UK FTSE 100 Index gained 0.51% to 10,223.54 points, increasing 0.79% last week; the French CAC40 Index rose 0.68% to 8,126.53 points, but declined 0.08% last week.

– Asia-Pacific markets: Major Asia-Pacific stock markets generally fell last Friday, with the Korean index surging 24% in January.

Last Friday, major Asia-Pacific stock markets showed mixed performance. The Korean index surged 24% in January, marking its largest monthly gain since 1999. By the close, Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.1% to 53,322.85 points, while Japan’s TOPIX Index rose 0.6% to 3,566.32 points. The Korean KOSPI Index edged up 0.06% to 5,221.36 points. For other major market indices, Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 0.39% to 4,910.93 points, Thailand’s SET Index dropped 0.41% to 1,325.62 points, and Australia’s S&P/ASX200 Index declined 0.65% to 8,869.10 points.

– Hong Kong stock market: Hong Kong's three major indices opened lower and continued to decline, falling more than 2%.

Last Friday, Hong Kong’s three major indices opened lower and extended losses in the afternoon to over 2%. By the close, the Hang Seng Index fell 2.08% to 27,387.11 points, the Hang Seng Tech Index dropped 2.10% to 5,718.18 points, and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index declined 2.47% to 9,317.09 points. In terms of sectors, non-ferrous metals plummeted, with Chifeng Gold, Shandong Gold, and Tianqi Lithium all falling more than 10%, dragging down the broader market. Real estate stocks underperformed, with Sunac China falling about 9% and China Vanke dropping approximately 6%.

– A-share market: Last Friday, A-shares' three major indices showed mixed performance, with the ChiNext Index rising over 1%.

Last Friday, the three major A-share indexes showed divergent trends. The precious metals sector weakened overall as international precious metal prices retreated. The Shenzhen Component Index and Shanghai Composite Index closed slightly lower, while the ChiNext was supported by strong performances from sectors such as computing hardware, memory chips, and CPO, rebounding in a V-shaped trend to close up over 1%. By the close, the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.96% to 4,117.95 points; the Shenzhen Component Index fell 0.66% to 14,205.89 points; and the ChiNext Index rose 1.27% to 3,346.36 points. In terms of sector performance, computing hardware stocks were particularly strong with Changfei Fiber Optics and Jiapu Technology hitting their daily trading limits, while RoboTech and Tianfu Communication also saw significant gains. Agricultural stocks surged during the session, with Denghai Seeds among those hitting their daily limit. Precious metal stocks saw notable pullbacks, with China National Gold Group Corp (CICC) and Sichuan Gold shares declining along with gold prices. Despite this, due to January’s overall rally, precious metal stocks remained relatively high, with notable cumulative gains for Hunan and Sichuan silver.

Bonds>>>

– US Treasury yields diverged last Friday, with the 10-year yield rising more than 7.8 basis points in January.

Last Friday, US Treasury yields showed divergent performances. After Trump announced Kevin Warsh as the nominee for the next Federal Reserve Chair, the two-year Treasury yield retreated. In New York trading's final hours, the two-year Treasury yield fell 3.46 basis points to 3.5245%, with a cumulative increase of 5.14 basis points in January. The 10-year Treasury yield rose by 1.21 basis points to 4.2434%, gaining 7.84 basis points cumulatively in January.

– Non-US bond markets: Eurozone government bond yields broadly increased last Friday, with Germany's 10-year bund down 6.3 basis points last week.

In January, 10-year Eurozone government bond yields diverged. By the European close last Friday, the 10-year German bund yield rose 0.3 basis points to 2.843%, erasing gains from the first three weeks of January with a weekly drop of 6.3 basis points. The 10-year UK gilt yield rose 1.1 basis points to 4.522%, up 2.4 basis points in January. The 10-year French government bond yield fell approximately 14 basis points in January.

– Government bonds: Chinese government bonds showed mixed performance last Friday.

Last Friday, government bond futures showed divergent performance. By the close, the 30-year main contract fell 0.23%, the 10-year main contract rose 0.06%, the 5-year main contract rose 0.01%, and the 2-year main contract remained unchanged from the previous trading day.

Foreign exchange >>>

– The ICE US Dollar Index rose 0.84% to 97.088 points, down 0.55% last week.

The US dollar edged higher last Friday, with remarks about the next Fed Chair candidate having little impact on the forex market, leading to a volatile session for the dollar index. By the end of last Friday’s forex trading, the ICE US Dollar Index rose 0.84% to 97.088 points, down 0.55% for the week and 1.27% in January. The Bloomberg Dollar Index rose 0.84% to 1,187.81 points, down 0.44% for the week and 1.32% in January.

– Non-US currencies: The US dollar strengthened against major currencies last Friday, surging 1.1% against the yen.

The US dollar strengthened against major currencies last Friday, with the yen plunging by 1.1%. In the final trading hours of the forex market last Friday, the dollar rose 1.10% against the yen to 154.74 yen; the euro fell about 1% against the dollar to 1.1851 dollars; and the pound fell 0.92% against the dollar to 1.3682 dollars.

– Chinese yuan: The USD/CNH pair closed at 6.9584 yuan last Friday.

In the New York session's final trading hours last Friday, the USD/CNH pair was at 6.9584 yuan, down 137 points from the previous trading day (Thursday); the onshore yuan stood at 6.9486 yuan, down 26 points from the previous trading day.

– Cryptocurrency: The cryptocurrency market experienced volatility last Friday, with Bitcoin falling nearly 4% in January.

Bitcoin experienced volatile trading last Friday, rebounding near the previous Thursday's closing price to above $83,500 after dropping approximately $3,500. For January, it fell nearly 4%. Ethereum dropped almost 4% on Friday.

Commodities>>>

– Energy: Oil prices edged lower last Friday but remained near their highest levels in six months.

Oil prices edged slightly lower last Friday but remained near six-month highs amid ongoing geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East. Brent crude futures settled at $70.69 per barrel, down approximately 0.03%. WTI crude futures settled at $65.21 per barrel, down about 0.32%.

– Precious metals: Precious metals saw significant fluctuations last Friday, with silver prices posting notable declines.

Gold:Heavy metal prices experienced a sharp correction, driven by market interpretation that Kevin Warsh, nominated by Trump last Friday as the next Federal Reserve Chair, could “restore the Fed's credibility.” Some investors anticipated this might weaken central bank independence, disrupting the short-term logic for holding precious metals as safe-haven assets, prompting many to sell gold and silver. Spot gold plummeted approximately 9% to $4,891.43 per ounce, showing persistent weakness throughout the day but still gaining nearly 13% in January. US gold futures plunged 8.88% to $4,846.20 per ounce, up nearly 12% in January.

Metals Futures Market:Spot silver prices fell 26.36%, with intraday losses expanding to around 37% before rebounding to $85.1840 per ounce, still up nearly 19% in January. US silver futures crashed 27.18% to $83.300 per ounce, also up nearly 19% in January. Among other metals, US copper futures fell 4.13% to $5.9470 per pound, up 4.14% in January. Spot platinum plunged 17.59% last Friday, up 1.65% in January, while spot palladium collapsed 14.89%, up 4.66% in January.

[Disclaimer]

The above content is provided by Harbor Family Office (hereinafter referred to as "Harbor Family Office") and is compiled from market information sourced from various channels. Neither Harbor Family Office nor its group members participated in the preparation of the content, nor have they expressly or implicitly endorsed or approved the content. This article is for reference only and does not constitute any investment or trading advice. Investment involves risks. Readers should independently evaluate and judge this material and are advised to consult professionals before making any investment or trading decisions. Without authorization, no one may reproduce, copy, or publish the content in whole or in part to the public by any means. Copyright belongs to Harbor Family Office and related providers.

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