Sharp Declines In Oil and Metals Shadowed Wall Street Trading

Barry Adams
02 Feb, 2026
New York City

Wall Street indexes turned sharply lower on Monday as investors geared up for another batch of earnings this week. 

The S&P 500 index decreased 0.3%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 1% amid earnings jitters and a weakness in precious metals and crude oil prices. 

Last week, global investors reacted to local earnings results, metals advanced amid persistent dollar weakness, and crude oil jumped ahead of a possible U.S. airstrike targeting Iran.

World markets traded higher as earnings releases gathered momentum, and investors overlooked elevated geopolitical tensions.

Sell America and Dollar Debase trades drove global investors to markets in Asia and Europe and accelerated shifts to metals.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. dollar against the basket of leading currencies, decreased 2% in January and powered a 17% surge in gold, a 40% rise in silver, and a 6% advance in copper.  

But those fears receded Monday after the U.S. president and Iran signaled the resumption of talks. 

Moreover, Trump's appointment of Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve chair, a perceived fiscal hawk, also dragged down gold and silver prices for the second consecutive session. 

Gold extended a two-day decline to 12% and fell to $4,685 an ounce, and silver plunged nearly 30% over the last two trading sessions to $80.87 an ounce.  

Crude oil prices for immediate-month delivery decreased 4.5% to $61.92 a barrel as investors hoped that the ongoing talks between the US and Iran could avert a global supply disruption through the Strait of Hormuz.

More than 160 companies are slated to release their quarterly results this week, including AMD, Amazon, Alphabet, Disney, NXP Semiconductors, Simon Property, and Uber Technologies.

On the economic front, January's nonfarm payrolls are scheduled to be released on Friday, and economists are estimating a preliminary increase of 40,000.