Highlights for the morning: Trump picks Fed chief, cryptocurrencies collapse, new silver record

Cryptocurrencies slumped sharply - bitcoin fell below $86k amid lack of inflows into ETFs, pressure from major holders and concerns over USDT. Silver, on the contrary, hit an all-time high thanks to tight supplies, strong demand from India and rising tech consumption. These and other topics are covered in our review of key events for the morning of December 1.

Donald Trump said he has already chosen a candidate for the post of Fed chairman and will soon announce his decision, emphasizing that he expects the nominee to actively reduce interest rates, Bloomberg writes. According to his sources, Kevin Hassett, head of the White House National Economic Council, remains the favorite. Trump believes that their views on monetary policy fully coincide, the agency notes. The selection process is led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and the announcement could take place before Christmas.

Speaking on CBS, Hassett declined to comment on his possible nomination, calling it a rumor, but noted that markets reacted positively to the news that Trump had decided on a candidate. The yield on 10-year treasuries temporarily dipped below 4%, Bloomberg points out.

Silver rose by 2% to $57.86 per ounce, breaking a record. Since the beginning of the year, its price has added more than 70%, ahead of gold, thanks to a sharp shortage of supply, explains CNBC. In addition, traders are making speculative bets on this precious metal amid growing expectations of interest rate cuts in the U.S., Bloomberg writes .

In London, silver inventories fell to multi-year lows, and in October the cost of borrowing the metal soared to the equivalent of 200% per annum. Demand is fueled by India, the largest consumer of silver. 80% of the country's needs are covered by imports, while global production has been declining for a decade. Growth is also boosted by technological drivers: electric cars use 25-50 grams of silver, and the transition to solid-state batteries could raise consumption to a kilogram per car, the channel said. In addition, its high thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity make silver a key metal for AI infrastructure, solar power and electrification. Many experts expect the combination of shortages and structurally rising demand to keep prices high going forward, CNBC points out.

The crypto market showed declines on Monday, with bitcoin down more than 5% to below $86k, ether down 7% to $2.8k, and Solana losing over 7.8%, Bloomberg reports. The market remains volatile after October's selloff, when $19 billion of shoulder positions were liquidated. Despite a brief recovery above $90k last week, investors are once again shying away from risk. Traders note low inflows into bitcoin-ETFs and lack of buyers on drawdowns, and the key support level for bitcoin is shifting to $80 thousand, the agency points out.

Additional pressure was caused by statements of Strategy head Fong Le about the possible sale of part of the company's giant bitcoin stock ($56 bln). Against this background, S&P downgraded the stability of the largest stablecoin USDT, warning about the risk of insufficient collateral in case of bitcoin's fall.

Taiwan wants to secure a reduction in U.S. duties on its goods from the current 20 percent to 15 percent, senior officials in the country said, Reuters reports. Taipei expects to conclude the agreement by the end of the year, but did not specify the terms.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's semiconductor exports are not subject to the current 20 percent U.S. rates, and the Donald Trump administration has previously announced plans to impose 100 percent duties on chip imports, excluding companies that manufacture or have committed to manufacturing their products in the U.S., the agency recalls. Among them is the largest contract chipmaker TSMC. Reuters sources note that Washington may postpone the introduction of new duties.

Switzerland did not support the introduction of a 50 percent inheritance tax for the super-rich in a nationwide vote, with 78.3 percent of voters opposing it, Bloomberg reports.

The levy would have applied to all assets with a value above 50 million francs ($62 million) that would have been inherited or given as gifts, affecting about 2,500 people in the country. It would have upset the balance of the tax system and undermined Switzerland's attractiveness, Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter explained the decision. Wealthy entrepreneurs have threatened to leave the country if the tax is introduced.

- Japan's broad Topix index collapsed 1.2 percent, while the Nikkei 225 fell as much as 2 percent.

- Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.2 percent, while mainland China's CSI 300 Index gained 0.6 percent.

- In South Korea, the Kospi index fell 0.6 percent and the Kosdaq fell 0.8 percent.

- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.6 percent.

- S&P 500 futures fell 0.7 percent, Nasdaq Composite futures fell 0.9 percent, and Dow Jones Industrial Average exchange-traded contracts fell 0.5 percent.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor