US pre-open: Futures slip as Trump picks Kevin Warsh for Fed chair

30th Jan 2026 12:31

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were in the red ahead of the bell on Friday after Donald Trump announced his nominee for the next head of the Federal Reserve.

As of 1230 GMT, Dow Jones futures were down 0.29%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures shed 0.37% and 0.48%, respectively.

The Dow closed 55.96 points higher on Thursday, extending modest gains recorded in the previous session.

Friday's primary focus was news that Donald Trump had tapped former Fed governor Kevin Warsh to replace Jerome Powell as the next chair of the Federal Reserve. Warsh served as Fed governor between 2006 and 2011.

"I have known Kevin for a long period of time, and have no doubt that he will go down as one of the GREAT Fed Chairmen, maybe the best," said Trump.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, noted that Warsh was a renowned hawk when he was a Fed governor. However, she said he has since aligned himself with Donald Trump in calling for lower interest rates.

Brooks added: "This is an interesting pick from the president and may give the market some hope that Fed independence will be preserved by elevating a former Fed insider."

Gold futures dropped more than 4% on the news, while silver plunged 12%.

In the corporate space, Apple saw a surge in demand for iPhones over Christmas, helping to push quarterly revenues at the US tech giant up to a record $144bn. Posting first-quarter numbers after the bell on Thursday, Apple said total net sales in the three months to 27 December surged 16% to $143.8bn, well ahead of expectations.

Chevron posted fourth-quarter earnings that topped analyst expectations thanks to record oil production, while Exxon beat estimates as lower-cost output from Guyana and the Permian helped offset weaker oil prices.

American Express pointed to FY profits largely above Wall Street expectations, underscoring resilient spending by its affluent ​customer base amid broader economic uncertainty, and Colgate-Palmolive delivered Q4 earnings and revenues that exceeded analyst expectations, despite taking a hit from an impairment charge related to its skin health unit.

Elsewhere, the Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon was allegedly in talks to invest up to $50bn in OpenAI, while Reuters revealed that Elon Musk was said to be considering merging SpaceX with either Tesla Motors or xAI as he looks to consolidate his sprawling tech empire.

On the macro front, December's producer price index will be released at 1330 GMT, while January's Chicago purchasing managers index will follow at 1445 GMT.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com