Gold and silver prices fell Friday, after hitting record highs a day earlier, as investors book profits after a record-breaking rally this year. Spot gold prices declined over 4% to $5,156.64 per ounce. The yellow metal remained around 20% higher year to date. “A correction back to $5,000 with some consolidation around that price would be a normal pattern in a bull market,” Ed Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research, told CNBC. “The surprise is that it went from $3,000 to $5,500 without any significant correction ... So far this has been more of a melt-up than a traditional bull market in the precious metals.” Silver prices fell over 5% to $110.26 per ounce. Year-to-date, the white metal’s price is still 53% higher.
The S&P 500 slid on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged in its first policy decision of the year, while Nvidia slipped following a strong session. The broad market index fell 0.47% to close at 6,039.31, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.51% to end at 19,632.32. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 136.83 points, or 0.31%, to 44,713.52. Nvidia shares hit their lows of the session after Bloomberg News reported Trump administration officials have discussed curbing chip sales of the company to China following the emergence of the DeepSeek AI model. Shares ended the session down 4%. For the week, the artificial intelligence darling is down more than 13%.
Gold dropped to around $5,156 per ounce on Friday, extending its pullback from the previous session on profit-taking, but remaining on track for a monthly gain of over 20%, its strongest performance since the 1980s. The recent rally was supported by elevated economic and geopolitical uncertainty, along with weakness in the US dollar. In the latest development, President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing tariffs on goods from countries supplying oil to Cuba, a move that adds pressure on Mexico. Geopolitical tensions also remained high as Trump urged Iran to engage in nuclear talks, while Tehran warned of retaliation, vowing a swift response.
WTI crude oil futures fell toward $64 per barrel on Friday but remained on track for their best month since July 2023, supported by a rising geopolitical risk premium. Concerns persist on renewed US–Iran tensions, after US President Donald Trump called on Iran to engage in nuclear talks, while Tehran warned of retaliation. Market attention is focused on the potential impact of these tensions on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passage between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula that is critical for global energy flows, with tankers transporting crude oil and LNG passing through it daily.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday reportedly warned the U.K. that it would be “very dangerous” for the country to do business with China, after London and Beijing announced steps aimed at mending ties. After years of strained relations, China and the U.K. are looking to develop a long-term strategic partnership following a high-stakes meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Starmer is on a 4-day visit to China, the first trip by a British prime minister in eight years, signalling an attempt at resetting bilateral ties. On the sidelines of premiere of the “Melania” film at the Kennedy Center, Trump was asked to comment on Starmer’s efforts to get into business with China, and he said that “it’s very dangerous for them to do that,” Reuters reported.
President Donald Trump said Thursday that he will be naming his pick Friday for the new Federal Reserve chair. Speaking at the premiere for “Melania,” the film about first lady Melania Trump, the president said a process that began last summer of finding his pick to succeed current Chair Jerome Powell is about to end. “I’ll be announcing the Fed chair tomorrow morning,” Trump said. Asked if he had actually settled on a choice, he replied, “I do, I better, otherwise I have to go to work very quickly.” The process for deciding on Powell’s replacement began in September with an 11-candidate field that included past and current Fed officials, economists and Wall Street investment professionals. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent screened the qualifying candidates, whittling the list down to five and then four.
The U.S. deficit with its global trading partners nearly doubled in November as the shortfall with the European Union swelled and the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs worked their way through the economy, the Census Bureau reported Thursday. Following a month where the trade deficit hit its lowest level since early 2009, it shot up to $56.8 billion, an increase of 94.6% from October. Of that gain, about one-third came with the European Union, where the goods deficit rose by $8.2 billion. The goods deficit with China decreased by about $1 billion to $13.9 billion. On a year-over-year basis, the deficit through November stood at $839.5 billion, or about 4% higher than the same period in 2024. The increase in the deficit counters Trump’s efforts to use tariffs to reduce imbalances around the globe.
The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee voted along party lines Thursday to advance its version of a cryptocurrency market structure bill to create CFTC regulatory authority over digital commodities, a major development for digital asset regulation. The Digital Commodity Intermediaries Act advanced on a party line-vote with 12 Republicans voting “yes” and 11 Democrats voting “no.” The vote is notable because it marks the first time a crypto market structure bill has advanced beyond a Senate committee. The Senate Banking Committee would also need to approve its version of a crypto market structure bill before the two measures could combine and advance to the full Senate.
Apple reported fiscal first-quarter earnings on Thursday that surpassed expectations, with revenue soaring 16% on an annual basis. Shares of the company were up more than 1% in extended trading. Finance chief Kevan Parekh said that Apple expects revenue this quarter to rise between 13% and 16% on an annual basis, which would be equivalent to between $107.8 billion and $110.66 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG were expecting $104.84 billion. Apple said it expects constrained iPhone supply during the period. Apple also said it expects its Services unit to have a year-over-year growth rate similar to the 14% in the December quarter. The company reported $42.1 billion in net income, or $2.84 per share, versus $36.33 billion, or $2.40 per share, in the year-ago period.
Software stocks on Thursday slid deeper into an ongoing intense sell-off this year as investors recoiled from the sector on growing fears that artificial intelligence could upend many firms’ business models. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) dropped 5.4% for its biggest one-day decline since last April during the tariff-triggered downturn. The fund is now down about 22% from its recent high, pushing the software industry into bear-market territory and underscoring how quickly sentiment has turned against one of Wall Street’s former favorite industries. Month to date, IGV is down more than 13%, on pace for its worst month since October 2008 when the fund fell 23%. The concern about the AI threat outweighed solid earnings from bellwether names like ServiceNow, whose shares plunged 10% Thursday.
A U.S. district judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit alleging Johnson & Johnson committed fraud by repeatedly attempting to use a shell company’s bankruptcy to resolve tens of thousands of lawsuits claiming its baby powder and other talc products caused cancer. Filed by five cancer victims suing J&J over its talc products, the lawsuit alleged that the bankruptcy strategy was designed to put billions of dollars out of plaintiffs’ reach in order to "hinder, delay, and defraud these women and prevent them from ever having their day in court." The lawsuit stemmed from a sprawling legal battle over J&J’s discontinued talc-based baby powder. Tens of thousands of women have alleged that the products contained asbestos and caused ovarian and other cancers.
Mastercard posted a rise in fourth-quarter profit on Thursday, as sustained consumer spending drove up its transaction volumes. Its net income rose to $4.06 billion, or $4.52 per share, in the quarter, compared with $3.34 billion, or $3.64 per share, a year earlier. Household spending has remained resilient despite tariff-fuelled uncertainty, as consumers continue to spend on necessities. During the holiday quarter, shoppers also locked in deals to stretch their discretionary budgets, lifting transaction volumes for processors. Mastercard’s gross dollar volume, the value of all transactions processed on its platform, rose 7%, and net revenue climbed 17.6% to $8.81 billion in the quarter.