The Trump administration is reportedly preparing to announce Kevin Warsh as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve on Friday, replacing Jerome Powell, a development that has unsettled markets and sparked a broad sell-off across asset classes.
As a result, risk sentiment has worsened as investors price in potential shifts in monetary policy direction.
Meanwhile, the DXY index, which tracks the strength of the US dollar against a basket of major currencies, rose to 96.6.
US Treasury yields are modestly higher with the 10-year benchmark rate of approx. 4.25%.
Volatility has increased with the Volatility Index (VIX) up 13% and the MOVE Index, which tracks volatility in the US financial market, up 6%.
In Friday’s premarket trading, Invesco QQQ ( QQQ ) is down more than 1% to trade around $622 a share. stock.
Bitcoin has fallen significantly, falling to $82,000. As a result of this decline, bitcoin has dropped out of the top ten global assets by market capitalization and is now in eleventh place with a market capitalization of $1.6 trillion.
Stocks linked to bitcoin have followed suit. Strategy (MSTR), the largest publicly traded holder of bitcoin, is down 4% in premarket trading after falling about 10% on Thursday, and is now trading near $138. In the bitcoin mining and AI sector, IREN (IREN) is down 5% to $57, while Cipher Mining (CIFR) is down 4%. While both Galaxy Digital (GLXY) and Coinbase (COIN) are down 3%.
Metals have absorbed much of the downside over the past 24 hours. Gold has retreated towards $5,000 an ounce, while silver has fallen back to around $100 an ounce. Other commodities are also weakened, with both copper and oil trading lower.
