Markets were tumbling in premarket trading as fears around the artificial-intelligence trade persisted ahead of a week of Big Tech earnings. The continuing selloff in gold, silver, and cryptocurrencies also appeared to bleed into stock futures in a downward trend that has followed President Donald Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh to replace Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve.
Dow futures were dropping 394 points, or 0.8%, those tied to the S&P 500 were down 1.1%, while the tech heavy Nasdaq 100 was diving 1.5% in premarket trading Monday.
Investors continue to be spooked by concerns that AI market excitement may have run ahead of fundamentals following Microsoft’s disappointing earnings last week and sentiment around chip darling Nvidia souring. The week ahead brings a raft of Big Tech earnings that could compound or dispel that view with Amazon, Alphabet, Palantir, and Advanced Micro Devices all set to report.
Indeed, it’s set to be another turbulent week with more than 100 S&P 500 companies reporting results and the January jobs report coming Friday morning. The employment numbers could affect the Fed’s forward path on interest rates and will be another test of how markets are reacting to Trump’s pick to head the central bank.
Gold, usually a haven in times of market turbulence, was selling off again early Monday as its stellar rally this year faltered. The precious metal was down 3.3% to $4,600 per ounce, while silver also fell—dropping 3.3% to $76.235 per ounce.
Cryptocurrencies were also hit as broader market sentiment suffered. Bitcoin was falling 0.8% to $76,398, sinking below the $80,000 mark over the weekend for the first time since April.
The dollar was bucking the market negativity, rising in the wake of Trump’s Fed nomination. Previous speeches from Warsh suggest he will favor reducing the central bank’s balance sheet over coming years, Jefferies economist Mohit Kumar said in a note. Warsh could also favor less accommodative policy if inflation is seen as getting entrenched but other elements of the U.S. diversification trade are still in play, he added. This is due to Trump’s policies, the threat of more tariffs, and other countries’ desire to diversify their asset holdings. The DXY dollar index rose 0.1% to 97.108, having reached a one-week high of 97.298 overnight.
U.S. Treasury yields declined in early trade, reversing Friday’s rises in long maturities. The two-year yield fell 2.3 basis points to 3.502%, the 10-year yield declined 2.3 bps to 4.217% and the 30-year yield fell 1 bp to 4.862%, according to Tradeweb.