The collapse in precious metals prices extended into broader markets during Asian trading on Monday, triggering a wide selloff across many stocks that had been among last year’s top performers.

Silver fell as much as 14.2% to a low of $72.63, while gold dropped up to 7.5% to $4,499.34.

Below are selected analyst comments from across the markets:

Christopher Forbes, Head of Asia and Middle East, CMC Markets: “We are in risk-reduction and deleveraging mode — a clearing of the leverage built up in the system. Easy and cheap access to risk through concentrated positions, especially among retail investors, is now being unwound.”

Gregor Gregersen, Founder, Silver Bullion, Singapore: “In physical markets, we have been experiencing shortages in retail silver products for months. These shortages are now worsening significantly. We see suppliers — and even some institutional suppliers — raising premiums, while others have stopped taking new orders altogether. In regions such as China, Dubai, and India, physical silver prices are trading far above Western spot prices, creating major distortions and disruptions.”

He added: “A year ago, we priced silver bars at a premium of $0.60 to $0.70 above spot. Today, premiums are in the $3.50 to $4.50 range, and small retail bars sometimes carry premiums of up to $8 above spot. Our focus now is managing strong demand amid limited supply and determining how much further premiums on physical silver need to rise.”

Mark Matthews, Head of Asia Research, Julius Baer, Singapore: “The asset most directly affected by Federal Reserve policy is US Treasuries. Their yield barely moved on the Warsh nomination news. So precious metals — which are less directly tied to Fed policy — cannot have collapsed because of that nomination. It was simply a same-day coincidence.”

He added: “The more likely explanation is that precious metals prices fell because they had risen too sharply the week before. Once profit-taking began, downside momentum accelerated quickly.”

He continued: “Prices could fall further from here, and perhaps should, given oil is down 5% today and usually leads the commodity complex. But once investors feel the precious metals market has stabilized, they will likely return quickly, since the two core drivers — a weaker US dollar and rising central bank gold holdings — have not changed.”

Oriana Liza, Sales Trader, CMC Markets, Singapore: “We have seen a major increase in funding and activity over the weekend and early this morning from clients seeking to protect positions if they do not want to liquidate or realize losses. This is a natural market reaction — such moves trigger fear and a surge in inquiries.”

James Ooi, Market Strategist, Tiger Brokers, Singapore: “The equity selloff is partly driven by margin calls following the sharp collapse in gold and silver, along with Oracle’s $50 billion fundraising plan and the broader crypto market decline. Political uncertainty around Kevin Warsh potentially leading the Fed has also weighed on sentiment. While he appears supportive of rate cuts, his preference for balance sheet reduction still points to tighter overall financial conditions.”

Mark Phelan, Chief Investment Officer, Lucerne Asset Management, Singapore: “This looks less like a single catalyst and more like a classic deleveraging and liquidity squeeze. Crowded leadership trades, systematic selling, and margin-driven liquidation usually hit what can be sold first. For precious metals, the speed and scale suggest position liquidation more than a clear macro repricing.”

He added that early safe havens in such phases are typically US dollar cash and short-term high-quality bonds, while traditional hedges can temporarily fail if moves are leverage-driven rather than fundamental.

Seo Sang-young, Analyst, Mirae Asset Securities, Seoul: “A volatility shock in commodities, especially gold and silver, triggered a liquidity shock for institutional investors through margin calls. That led to sharp declines in Bitcoin and equities. We do not yet see widespread retail margin calls, but panic selling is dominating and volatility is likely to remain elevated.”

Christopher Wong, Strategist, OCBC, Singapore: “The continued selloff in precious metals reflects a mix of technical and sentiment pressures. Margin-linked selling and stop-loss triggers have amplified the move, while sensitivity to the US dollar, yield repricing, and Fed policy uncertainty remains high.”

CME Metals Trading Jumps Despite Margin Hikes with Volumes Up 18%

CME Group reported a new record in daily metals trading volume on Tuesday, highlighting growing reliance on listed precious metals derivatives amid ongoing market uncertainty.

Trading in metals futures and options reached 3,338,528 contracts on January 26, surpassing the previous record of 2,829,666 contracts set on October 17, 2025, an increase of 18%.

CME said the surge was led by strong demand for precious metals, particularly silver. Micro silver futures posted a daily record of 715,111 contracts, while open interest reached an all-time high, indicating new positions rather than only short-term turnover.

CME linked the activity to macro uncertainty, elevated volatility, and rising price risk, noting that traders are increasingly using listed derivatives to hedge and adjust exposure.

The exchange also confirmed further margin requirement increases after sharp price swings and has shifted margin calculations from fixed dollar amounts to percentage-based requirements.

Higher Margins Add Pressure After Volatility Spike

CME said margin increases followed routine volatility reviews to ensure sufficient collateral coverage. However, the timing adds strain on smaller traders already hit by large losses.

Gold and silver prices plunged after the Warsh Fed nomination news and a stronger dollar, which made metals more expensive for overseas buyers. Analysts noted that crowded leveraged positioning — especially in silver — accelerated forced selling once prices broke lower.

The selloff spread beyond futures markets. Mining shares and leveraged silver ETFs posted severe losses, with some funds on track for their worst day on record.

Several strategists described the move as a broad crowded-trade unwind rather than a structural shift in long-term fundamentals, noting that central bank diversification trends and reserve reallocation away from dollar assets remain longer-term supportive themes for precious metals.

US stock indices rose during Monday’s trading as markets awaited additional quarterly earnings results from major companies.

Later this week, earnings are due from several key firms, including Alphabet and Amazon. Investors are also watching for the January monthly jobs report scheduled for release on Friday.

US President Donald Trump announced the nomination of Kevin Warsh to lead the Federal Reserve, a move that has helped ease concerns about the central bank’s independence in managing monetary policy.

Warsh previously served as a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and is known for his hawkish stance on inflation. Although he may lean toward supporting near-term rate cuts in line with Trump’s preferences, markets believe he is unlikely to follow presidential guidance on monetary policy in all cases.

In trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.9%, or 477 points, at 49,369 as of 17:23 GMT. The S&P 500 rose 0.6%, or 44 points, to 6,983, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.8%, or 179 points, to 23,641.

Palladium prices declined during Monday’s trading, pressured by a stronger US dollar against most major currencies and broad profit-taking across metal markets following the strong gains recorded recently.

In a note to clients last month, UBS raised its palladium price forecast by $300 per ounce to $1,800, citing a sharp increase in investment flows into the metal.

Analyst Giovanni Staunovo said the revision was “driven by the strength of investment demand in recent months,” noting that the relatively small size of the palladium market “often leads to sharp price swings.”

The bank explained that the recent price momentum has not been driven by traditional industrial use, but rather by investor positioning ahead of expected US interest rate cuts, a weaker dollar, and rising geopolitical uncertainty.

Staunovo added that “if investment demand remains strong, prices could move higher,” but warned that “in the absence of investment demand, we see the market as largely balanced,” which explains UBS’s preference for gold exposure instead.

Palladium demand has shifted in recent years after its use in automotive catalytic converters peaked in 2019 — the same year prices surged above platinum — prompting substitution toward other metals.

The growing adoption of electric vehicles, which do not use catalytic converters, has also weighed on palladium demand.

However, the bank noted that palladium has risen alongside platinum and silver since mid-2025. With palladium now “significantly cheaper than platinum,” UBS expects catalytic converter manufacturers to “switch back to using it… in due course.”

Investment activity in palladium has picked up notably, with UBS pointing to rising ETF holdings since mid-2025, along with a significant increase in speculative futures positions after being net short for most of last year.

China may also be supporting demand, as Staunovo said that the launch of yuan-denominated platinum futures contracts in Guangzhou “likely supported palladium demand” as part of broader trading activity across the platinum group metals complex.

Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index rose by 0.6% to 97.5 points by 16:19 GMT, after hitting a high of 97.6 and a low of 97.01.

In trading, March palladium futures were down 0.3% at $1,698 per ounce as of 16:19 GMT.

Bitcoin fell on Monday to trade near its lowest levels since April, after a sharp weekend selloff pushed prices toward the $75,000 area, amid broad leveraged liquidations and rising macroeconomic uncertainty.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency dropped 2.2% to $76,825.4 by 03:06 a.m. US Eastern Time (08:06 GMT), after touching $74,635.5 — a level not seen for about ten months. Bitcoin remains close to the 15-month low near the $70,000 mark as selling pressure persists.

Liquidations weigh heavily on the crypto market

The latest decline dealt a heavy blow to the broader digital asset market, with roughly $111 billion wiped from total cryptocurrency market capitalization over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data, reflecting the scale of the selloff.

CoinGlass data showed that about $1.6 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated, as falling prices forced traders to rapidly unwind bullish bets. Thin liquidity — especially during weekend sessions — amplified losses, as key technical breaks triggered stop-loss orders and margin calls, accelerating the drop and increasing volatility.

Bitcoin’s weakness also comes alongside broader risk-off sentiment in global markets, as investor focus returns to the path of US monetary policy.

Warsh nomination to lead the Fed pressures crypto assets

Pressure on high-risk assets increased after US President Donald Trump nominated Kevin Warsh to chair the Federal Reserve, prompting investors to reassess interest rate expectations and liquidity conditions.

Warsh, a former Fed governor, is widely viewed as more hawkish, particularly regarding inflation control and balance sheet discipline. This stance points to tighter financial conditions than previously expected, reducing investor appetite for speculative assets — especially cryptocurrencies, which typically benefit from abundant liquidity and lower borrowing costs.

David Scott, market analyst at StoneX, said that Warsh’s earlier criticism of quantitative easing and the Fed’s balance sheet policies “triggered a rapid unwinding of trades built around currency debasement fears, including Bitcoin and other digital assets.”

These losses come after Bitcoin pulled back sharply from record levels reached last year, giving up a large portion of gains that had been driven by optimism over institutional adoption and easier financial conditions.

Altcoins continue to decline

Most alternative cryptocurrencies extended their losses, deepening the weekend downturn. Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, fell 6.6% to $2,290.92, trading near a seven-month low. XRP, the third-largest digital currency, dropped 4.4% to $1.59.