The S&P 500 fell for the third straight day, but is in the plus side for January. Gold collapsed by 9%

U.S. stock indices ended trading on Friday, January 30, down, with the strongest affected "technological" Nasdaq Composite, although during the day the outsider was Dow Jones. At the same time, by the end of the month, all three indices increased by at least 1%. On the last trading day of January, investors and analysts predominantly positively assessed the decision of U.S. President Donald Trump to nominate Kevin Warsh to the post of Chairman of the Federal Reserve System. This led to the strengthening of the dollar and the collapse of prices for bank metals.

- The broad market index S&P 500 declined on Friday by 0.43%, and at the moment was falling by more than 1%. Despite this, at the end of the month, the index remained in the plus by about 1.4%.

- The blue-chip index Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.36% on Friday, although it was down 1.1% during the day. In January, the Dow rose by 1.7%.

- The Nasdaq Composite Technology Sector Index fell 0.94% on January 30. It also added about 1% over the month.

- The Russell 2000 Small Companies Index ended the day down 1.6%, but at the end of the month it soared 5%.

- Gold cheapened by 11% on Friday, but slowed down to 9% by the close of trading. The spot price fell below $5,000 an ounce. The decline in the value of gold was the strongest in more than a decade, notes Business Insider.

- Silver collapsed on Friday by 28%. The drop in silver prices was the biggest one-day collapse since 1980, MarketWatch writes.

- The dollar index showed a growth of 0.85% after the announcement of Kevin Warsh's candidacy to head the Federal Reserve. This is the strongest one-day growth of the currency since Ma, notes Bloomberg.

US President Donald Trump has decided on the nominee for the new head of the Federal Reserve. In Truth Social he wrote: "I've known Kevin [Warsh] for a long time and I'm sure he'll go down in history as one of the GREAT Fed Chairmen, perhaps the best".

Worsh's appointment may ease concerns about the independence of the Fed, CNBC said. Warsh has previously served as Fed governor and is known for his tough stance on inflation. Although he is likely to push for lower rates in the short term, as Trump wants, markets believe that Warsh will be able to maintain the autonomy of monetary policy, the channel writes.

Apple shares rose 0.4 percent, though they declined throughout the day despite exceeding analysts' expectations for its fiscal 2026 first-quarter results and a surge in iPhone sales. Investors were worried by the company's warning that its margins would suffer due to rising memory chip prices. Microsoft's stock fell 0.74%, after falling 10% on Thursday, marking its worst day since 2020. Outside of the technology sector, Verizon shares rose nearly 12%, their best performance in a day since 2008. The telecom giant beat analysts' expectations and gave a strong profit outlook for the year.

"The appointment of Kevin Warsh as Fed chairman is exactly what the markets have been hoping for: he is credible, well known in the professional community and is expected to maintain the central bank's independence, which is critical to markets," Treasury Partners investment director Richard Saperstein told CNBC. - And, most importantly, Worsh's confirmation to the Senate is unlikely to face any major obstacles."

"Markets may be pricing in a moderate acceleration in rate cuts, but an aggressive easing cycle is unlikely," Jason Pride of Glenmede commented on Warsh's appointment to Bloomberg.

Warsh's appointment should help stabilize the dollar somewhat and reduce, though not eliminate, the asymmetric risk of a deep and prolonged weakening of the U.S. currency through pressure on strategies based on its depreciation - which is why gold and silver have fallen sharply, explained Evercore's Krishna Guha. "Nevertheless, we do not recommend overly wagering on Worsh's hawkish theme across all asset markets - and even see the risk of a sharp reversal," he noted. - We view Warsh as a pragmatist, not an ideological hawk in the vein of an independent conservative central banker."

The sharp move in metals prices on Friday could indicate forced selling, as fundamentals rarely change so rapidly, said Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak. "It's been the hottest asset among intraday traders and other short-term participants lately," Maley told CNBC. - A certain amount of leverage has been built up in silver. After the sharp drop today, margin calls happened."

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