Wall Street futures plunged into the red as chaotic selling in precious metals and other commodities unsettled investor sentiment at the outset of a week packed with earnings, central bank meetings, and macroeconomic data.
Commodity markets tumbled on Monday, posting steep losses in gold, silver, oil, and industrial metals after the selection of Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve chairman triggered a sell-off in risk assets.
Some participants interpret the move as a correction after signs of overbought conditions, especially in gold, which soared 100% in 2025 and, with just two sessions left in the month, had already logged a 25% monthly surge.
Losses accelerated when CME Group raised margins on its metals futures. In oil, prices also pulled back amid signs of easing tensions between the United States and Iran, after U.S. President Donald Trump said over the weekend that Iran was "negotiating seriously" with Washington.
Sergio Ávila, market analyst at IG, notes that European markets opened in the red "after the shock in precious metals, which has triggered a chain reaction of selling across other assets," adding that "the tech sector is suffering due to doubts about the AI frenzy, with reports that Nvidia may have frozen a mega investment plan in OpenAI."
Ávila also highlights the perception of Kevin Warsh as a "hawk at the Fed," which dampens expectations of a monetary leader willing to aggressively cut borrowing costs.
On the corporate front, earnings season is ramping up on both sides of the Atlantic: Walt Disney (Monday); Publicis, AMD (Tuesday); Santander, Infineon, Crédit Agricole, UBS Group, Alphabet, Qualcomm (Wednesday); BBVA, Shell, ArcelorMittal, BNP Paribas, ConocoPhillips, Amazon (Thursday); and Banco de Sabadell, Société Générale (Friday).
On the macroeconomic front, Monday sees the release of manufacturing PMI surveys in Europe and the United States; on Wednesday, eurozone CPI; on Friday, the January U.S. jobs report. In addition, the European Central Bank and Bank of England meet on Thursday.
At 08:02 GMT on Monday, Spain's IBEX 35 blue-chip index was down 47.80 points, or 0.27%, to 17,833.10 points, while the pan-European FTSE Eurofirst 300 index dropped 0.70%.
In the banking sector, Santander lost 1.13%, BBVA slipped 0.79%, Caixabank shed 0.31%, Sabadell dropped 1.09%, Bankinter fell 0.87%, and Unicaja Banco was down 1.11%.
Among large non-financial stocks, Telefónica gained 0.53%, Inditex advanced 0.73%, Iberdrola rose 0.48%, Cellnex added 0.92%, while oil major Repsol lost 2.33%.
(Reporting by Tomás Cobos, editing by Jorge Ollero Castela)
