Gold and silver prices dived Friday and European stock markets climbed as investors were left reassured by US President Donald Trump’s pick to take over as head of the Federal Reserve.
The precious metals, viewed as safe-haven investments, had already begun sliding on reports that Trump was to nominate former Fed official Kevin Warsh to replace Jerome Powell as chair of the US central bank.
Trump confirmed his choice Friday on Truth Social.
“I have known Kevin for a long period of time, and have no doubt that he will go down as one of the GREAT Fed Chairmen, maybe the best,” Trump wrote on his social media platform.
“On top of everything else, he is ‘central casting,’ and he will never let you down.”
Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB trading group, said the “interesting pick... may give the market some hope that Fed independence will be preserved”.
Trump’s personal attacks on Fed boss Jerome Powell -- set to depart in May -- have fuelled widespread fears among investors that the central bank’s policy-independence is under threat, potentially posing an inflation risk to the US economy.
Precious metals prices tumbled on Friday.
Gold traded at $5,130.80 an ounce after reaching a record high of $5,595.47 Thursday.
Silver, which Thursday reached an all-time peak above $120 an ounce, stood at $103.49 an ounce.
Financial markets have endured a rollercoaster ride this week as traders weathered a weaker dollar, Trump’s threats against Tehran, the president’s resumption of tariff threats and a possible US government shutdown.
Asian stock markets closed out the week with some hefty losses following Thursday’s tech-led retreat on Wall Street on renewed concerns over vast investments in artificial intelligence.
Healthy earnings from Meta, Samsung and SK hynix provided much cheer early in the week but the positivity took a hit on Thursday after Microsoft announced a surge in spending on AI infrastructure and revived concerns that companies could take some time before seeing a return on their investments.
There are fears that firms’ valuations may be a little too stretched and markets could be in a bubble, having soared in recent years to record highs on the back of a tech-fuelled rally.
Oil prices fell Friday, having surged the day before as Trump ramped up geopolitical tensions with threats of a military strike on Iran.
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.5 percent at 10,223.62 points
Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.8 percent at 8,136.20
Frankfurt - DAX: UP 1.0 percent at 24,565.12
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.1 percent at 53,322.85 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 2.1 percent at 27,387.11 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 1.0 percent at 4,117.95 (close)
New York - Dow: UP 0.1 percent at 49,071.56 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1949 from $1.1962 on Thursday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3779 from $1.3800
Dollar/yen: UP at 153.89 yen from 153.04 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 86.71 pence from 86.67 pence
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.8 percent at $69.09 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.7 percent at $65.03 per barrel
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