Investing.com -- U.S. stock index futures fell Friday, but cut into their losses on the news that President Donald Trump has nominated Kevin Warsh to be the next Federal Reserve chairman.
At 07:55 ET (12:55 GMT), Dow Jones Futures fell 245 points, or 0.5%, S&P 500 Futures dropped 35 points, or 0.5%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures slipped 160 points, or 0.6%.
The main Wall Street indices closed mixed Thursday, with the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite declining, weighed by losses from tech giant Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) after its earnings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose marginally.
Week to date, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have each added nearly 0.8%, while the DJIA is down nearly 0.1% on the week.
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Warsh nominated for Fed chair role
Trump has nominated former Fed governor Kevin Warsh for the role of chairman of the Federal Reserve, potentially starting in May when the role is vacated by current chair, Jerome Powell.
In his post on Truth Social announcing Warsh’s nomination, Trump outlined the reasons why Warsh’s past experience will equip him to be a "GREAT" chairman.
"He has conducted extensive research in the field of Economics and Finance," Trump wrote, crediting Warsh for issuing an independent report to the Bank of England "proposing reforms in the conduct of Monetary Policy in the United Kingdom".
He also noted Warsh’s previous tenure in the Federal Reserve, last time as a member of the Fed’s board of governors between 2006 and 2011.
Warsh -- who had lost out to current Chair Jerome Powell for the post in 2017 -- has largely aligned himself with Trump’s calls for lower rates in the past year, but was a long-time critic of the ultra-loose monetary policy pursued by the Fed since the financial crisis, including the central bank’s expanded balance sheet.
"Warsh was one of the top 4 finalists for weeks, but he wasn’t the market’s first choice given his very hawkish views on QE," said analysts at Vital Knowledge, in a note, "and past comments about effecting a “regime change” at the Fed."
This nomination is set to clear out a major point of uncertainty for Wall Street, as investors fret over the long-term trajectory of lending rates in the country.
But Warsh’s potential nomination also comes amid heightened concerns over the Fed’s independence, especially amid growing calls from the White House that the central bank cut rates aggressively.
Additionally, Trump publicly endorsed a bipartisan spending deal negotiated by Senate Republicans and Democrats that would avert a looming government shutdown, posting support on Truth Social and urging cooperation.
The compromise would fund most federal agencies while leaving contentious immigration issues for further negotiation.
Reports said Democrat and Republican leaders had also agreed to the deal, although it remained unclear when Congress will vote on the matter. Lawmakers have until midnight, Friday, to release more spending for the federal government.
Apple’s iPhone sales beat expectations
In the corporate sector, there are more earnings from the likes of Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), American Express (NYSE:AXP), Verizon (NYSE:VZ), Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (F:REGN) and Aon (NYSE:AON) due later in the session.
After the close Thursday, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) comfortably beat profit and revenue expectations for the holiday quarter, its fiscal first quarter, enjoying its best quarterly iPhone sales growth performance in over four years.
iPhone sales jumped 23.3% year-on-year to $85.27 billion, marking the biggest increase since the fourth quarter of 2021.
The tech giant also forecast higher-than-expected revenue growth of up to 16% for the March quarter, powered by strong demand for its iPhones and a sharp rebound in China and accelerating demand in India.
Still, Apple’s shares slipped around 1% lower in premarket trade, as sales in other parts of the company were less positive.
Wearables and accessories, which include things like the Apple Watch and AirPods, fell by roughly 3%. Sales of Mac computers were down by just over 7%.
Elsewhere, SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) shares surged premarket after the storage-chip maker delivered a significant profit beat and raised guidance, as demand for data-center and AI-related memory products outpaced forecasts.
Credit cad giant Visa (NYSE:V) beat first-quarter earnings and revenue expectations, as some investors reacted to a shortfall in total transactions processed and persistent caution around broader consumer spending trends.
Gold, crude slip lower
Gold prices fell sharply Friday, retreating from record levels following the news that President Trump is set to announce his nominee for the next Federal Reserve Chair later in the day.
Warsh, the new favorite for the role, is seen as less dovish than other potential candidates, and this resulted in the U.S. dollar bouncing, to the detriment of commodities denominated in the greenback.
Spot gold slid 4.6% to $5,126.37 an ounce, after earlier briefly dropping below $5,000/oz, while gold futures for April fell 3.8% to $5,150.80/oz.
That said, prices have risen more than 20% so far in January, heading for a sixth straight monthly gain and the largest monthly advance since 1982.
Other precious metals also cooled on Friday after logging wild swings this week. Spot silver slid 7.3% to $106.073/oz, tumbling from a Thursday record high, while spot platinum slid 8.5% to $2,394.98/oz.
Oil prices also retreated after a three-day rally, but were still on track for hefty weekly gains as traders focused on potential U.S. military action against Iran.
Brent futures slipped 0.3% to $69.36 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 0.2% to $65.30 a barrel.
Both benchmarks were set to gain over 6% this week.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, known as OPEC+, is set to meet on Sunday, with recent reports indicating that the cartel is likely to keep its output unchanged.
Ambar Warrick and Ayushman Ojha contributed to this report
