Silver Rises Over 120% YTD 
Daily News Nuggets | Today’s top stories for gold and silver investors
January 30th, 2026
Gold’s sharp pullback Friday came as Trump picked Kevin Warsh for Fed chair. The 2026 gold market remains volatile — but strong. Wall Street sees $8,000+ ahead, and Asia is buying at record premiums.
Trump Picks Kevin Warsh for Fed Chair
President Trump nominated Kevin Warsh Friday to replace Jerome Powell as Fed chair when his term ends in May.
Warsh is a former Fed governor who served during the financial crisis. He built his reputation as an inflation hawk. But he’s recently called for “regime change” at the Fed and aligned with Trump’s push for lower rates.
Markets reacted fast. The dollar strengthened, Treasury yields rose, and gold pulled back from its record highs.
The irony? Trump wants aggressive rate cuts. But he just picked someone who spent years warning about inflation risks — even when unemployment hit 10%.
Warsh still needs Senate confirmation. That could get messy after Trump’s months-long attacks on Powell. The markets didn’t wait to react.
The Financial System Isn’t Safer — And You Know It As risks mount, see why gold and silver are projected to keep shining in 2026 and beyond.
Metals Pull Back After Historic Run
Gold tumbled more than 7% Friday, breaking below the $5,000 mark. The dollar strengthened as markets absorbed the Warsh news.
But zoom out. Gold is still on track for its best month since 1999. It’s up over 15% in January and hit a record $5,594 just yesterday.
Silver’s move was even more dramatic. It dropped 14% to under $100 after touching $121 a day earlier. The white metal has surged 42% this month alone.
Analysts see the gold market pullback as healthy profit-taking after a parabolic rally. The fundamental drivers — dollar weakness, Fed policy uncertainty, geopolitical risk — haven’t disappeared.
Independent analyst Ross Norman expects gold to dip further near-term but still average $5,375 for 2026, peaking around $6,400 in Q4.
Thursday’s trading session was even more chaotic.
$9 Trillion Whiplash Rocks Markets
Thursday delivered one of the wildest trading sessions on record. An estimated $9 trillion in market capitalization swung across gold, silver, and US equities in just 6.5 hours.
After hitting record highs, gold crashed 8% at the open, wiping out nearly $3 trillion in value. It clawed back $2 trillion by close.
Silver erased $750 billion, then recovered $500 billion. The white metal had peaked above $121 earlier — its best monthly gain outside December 1979.
Tech stocks fell too. Oracle dropped 5.4%. Nvidia shed 2.7%. AI bubble fears spread alongside the metals selloff.
What happened? Parabolic moves attract heavy leverage. When prices reverse quickly, margin calls force traders to sell, amplifying the decline. Analysts call this typical after extreme rallies.
The volatility is shaking out weak hands. Some analysts see healthy consolidation. Others see the dip as a buying opportunity. Either way, the fundamental drivers — dollar weakness, Fed uncertainty, geopolitical risk — remain intact.
Despite the turbulence, Wall Street’s long-term outlook hasn’t changed.
Wall Street Can’t Keep Up With Gold
Goldman Sachs raised its year-end gold target to $5,400 just last week. Gold promptly sailed past it, hitting a record near $5,600.
Despite the 2026 pullback, JPMorgan is mapping out a scenario where gold reaches $8,000 to $8,500 by the end of the decade. That would be another 40%+ gain from here.
The math? If private investors boost gold allocation from 3% to 4.6% of portfolios, the metal hits those levels. Central banks have already been buying over 1,000 tonnes annually since 2022 — double the historical average.
The shift is structural. Countries are diversifying away from dollar reserves. Institutional investors increasingly view gold as essential portfolio insurance, not just a trade.
One JPMorgan strategist put it bluntly: “Allocations to gold by both private investors and central banks continue to grind higher.”
Wall Street’s finally waking up to a trend metals investors have been riding for years. The physical market seems to agree.
Asia Buys Gold at Record Premiums
Indian gold dealers charged premiums of $121 per ounce this week — the highest level in over a decade. Last week it was $112.
Why? Investors are front-running a potential duty hike. India’s finance minister presents the 2026 budget on February 1. She slashed import duties from 15% to 6% back in July 2024. Now traders think she might reverse course.
China’s seeing the same surge. Premiums jumped from $8 to $32 per ounce in one week. Physical buyers are flooding precious metals dealers in Shanghai and Hong Kong, betting prices will climb even higher.
This is happening despite gold trading near $5,600 — up for its best month since 1980.
Peter Fung, head of dealing at Wing Fung Precious Metals, explained the dynamic: “Small investors still want to buy because the run for gold and silver looks quite bullish after the break above $5,000.”
