US Equity Indexes Drop After Trump Nominates Kevin Warsh as Fed Chair; Silver Plunges 27%

03:53 PM EST, 01/30/2026 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes slumped ahead of Friday's close as Kevin Warsh's nomination to be the Federal Reserve chair boosted the dollar while sending precious metals into a tailspin.

The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.1% to 23,421.1, with the S&P 500 down 0.6% to 6,927.5 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lower by 0.4% to 48,861.2. Materials and technology led the decliners, while health care, consumer staples, and energy were the only gainers.

On Friday, President Donald Trump nominated Warsh, a former Fed governor, to succeed Jerome Powell. 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.

"While arguing for higher rates when on the board, he [Warsh] has since called for a new regime at the Fed and lower interest rate policy," Stifel Chief Economist Lindsey Piegza said in a note. "Thus, seemingly checking all the boxes for the White House."

The ICE US Dollar Index, which reflects the greenback's performance against a basket of the world's major currencies, rose 0.8% to 97.08. Gold futures sank 8.1% to $4,890.1 per troy ounce, and silver futures plunged 27% to $82.51 per troy ounce following the announcement.

In economic news, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday that 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.

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