Silver plummets after Trump taps Kevin Warsh to chair Federal Reserve

The price of silver plummeted Friday, following President Donald Trump’s announcement that he will nominate economist Kevin Warsh to chair the Federal Reserve.

Spot silver prices had dropped by more than 37% just before 5 p.m. ET, to around $84.63 a troy ounce. Precious metals trade nearly 24 hours a day.

Friday’s plunge put an abrupt halt to silver’s red-hot run over the last 12 months. Analysts attributed the drop to investors selling their silver for high returns at what could be the end of its juggernaut.

But even accounting for Friday’s losses, silver is still up more than 150% since this time last year.

Spot gold prices also fell in Friday trading, although not nearly as steeply as silver. The price of gold was down around 11% shortly before 5 p.m. ET, to around $4,864 a troy ounce.

Like silver, gold has made remarkable gains over the past year, as investors flocked to “safe haven” assets like precious metals as a hedge against uncertainty in financial markets and the global economy. After Friday’s hit, gold was still up more than 70% over the past year.

Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar traded higher Friday, reversing a downward trend that gained steam on Tuesday, when the U.S. currency had its worst day since April 2025.

The twin dynamics on Wall Street of investors selling their safe haven metals, while pushing up the dollar, signals an increase in confidence. This is likely due in part to the popular view that Warsh would be an experienced hand at the wheel of the Fed.

Warsh is also a longtime monetary “hawk” who, during his time on the Fed board, generally opposed lowering interest rates as a way to turbo charge economic growth.

Warsh has pivoted somewhat over the past year, as he carefully positioned himself in Trump’s camp, criticizing the current Fed and sounding open to lowering rates.

The S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite, and Dow Jones Industrial Average all closed slightly down Friday, investors weighed other factors, such as Friday’s unexpectedly sharp rise in the Producer Price Index.