US Equity Indexes Slump After Trump Nominates Warsh as Fed Chair, Producer Price Inflation Hots Up

12:35 PM EST, 01/30/2026 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes dropped as Kevin Warsh's nomination as Federal Reserve chair boosted the dollar and sent precious metals into a tailspin, and as the producer price inflation rate jumped in December.

The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1% to 23,457.1, with the S&P 500 down 0.8% to 6,914.2 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lower by 1.1% to 48,563.1 after midday Friday.

On Friday, President Donald Trump nominated Kevin Warsh to succeed Jerome Powell as the chair of the Federal Reserve. Warsh is said to be a proponent of a smaller Fed balance sheet, an inflation hawk, and a critic of quantitative easing, according to media reports. Trump has criticized Chair Powell on multiple occasions for being "too late" in cutting interest rates, which means investors will watch Warsh's policy moves closely after he takes over the reins from Powell.

The ICE US Dollar Index, which reflects the greenback's performance against a basket of the world's major currencies, rose 0.7% to 96.92 by early Friday afternoon.

Gold futures sank 6.6% to $4,970.1 per troy ounce. Silver futures plunged 19% to $92.78 per troy ounce.

In economic news, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday the Producer Price Index rose by 0.5% in December following a 0.2% increase in November, above the 0.2% gain expected in a Bloomberg-compiled survey. After excluding food and energy prices, core PPI jumped by 0.7%, above the 0.2% gain expected and following a flat reading in the previous month.

In company news, Apple (AAPL) late Thursday reported fiscal Q1 results above Wall Street's estimates amid strong iPhone demand. Still, its shares were down almost 1%.

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