US stock futures tumbled early on Monday after a dramatic sell-off in gold and silver unnerved investors, with tech leading the way as AI trade worries circled and Federal Reserve uncertainty deepened.

Nasdaq 100 futures (NQ=F) dropped 1%, while those on the S&P 500 (ES=F) fell roughly 0.7%. Contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F), which includes fewer tech names, slid 0.3%. All three indexes retraced deeper losses overnight that followed a sharp reversal on Wall Street on Friday.

Stocks remain under intense selling pressure as precious metals continue a rollercoaster ride that has seen them unwind much of 2026's most rip-roaring rally in recent days. Gold briefly fell as much as 10% on Monday, while silver (SI=F) sank over 15%, having tumbled roughly 30% in its biggest single-day drop on record in a Friday wipeout. Both were paring losses at last check.

Over the weekend, bitcoin (BTC-USD) sank below the $80,000 mark for the first time since April, extending losses after a volatile end to last week. The cryptocurrency was last trading just below $77,000 per token. At the same time, the dollar (DX-Y.NYB) gained against major peers, rising most against currencies exposed to commodity prices.

“Once precious metals did start to come under pressure, there were plenty of factors adding fuel to the fire,” Michael Brown, Pepperstone senior research strategist, wrote in a research note. “The question everyone is now asking is what happens next?”

Wall Street is heading into a new month jittery after President Trump announced Kevin Warsh as his nominee to lead the Federal Reserve. That move has opened the door to speculation on what will happen to interest rates over the coming months, with most traders still expecting two rate cuts by the end of the year.

Investors are also digesting fresh uncertainty around Nvidia (NVDA) and the broader artificial intelligence trade. Big Tech has led market moves throughout the start of 2026 with an ever-increasing appetite for earnings leading companies in opposite directions.

The week ahead brings a wave of corporate earnings, with more than 100 S&P 500 (^GSPC) companies set to report results. High-profile names on the calendar include Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOG), Disney (DIS), Palantir (PLTR), and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

Data releases this week include the all-important January jobs report, due Friday morning. Economists expect payrolls to have added 65,000 jobs last month, with the unemployment rate set to hold at 4.4%.

Estée Lauder (EL) stock rose 6% before the bell on Monday. The cosmetics and beauty company said it has entered into a partnership with SalonCentric to distribute its products across more than 850 US stores.

GameStop (GME) stocks continued to rise on Monday after climbing 4% on Friday, following the news that CEO Ryan Cohen wants to expand the company through acquisitions.

Newmont (NEM) stock fell more than 3% during premarket hours on Monday. The gold mining company's shares edged lower after gold fell 2% below $5,000.

Bloomberg reports:

The dollar (DX-Y.NYB) strengthened again Monday, advancing the most against currencies sensitive to commodity prices, as a plunge in gold (GC=F) and silver (SIL=F) rippled across markets.

The greenback rallied the most against the currencies of Australia, New Zealand and Norway in early London trading, as gold extended losses after its biggest plunge in more than a decade on Friday. Silver sank as much as 16% Monday after its intraday loss on Friday was the steepest on record.

... The dollar’s gain of about 1% over Friday and Monday comes after the world’s reserve currency slumped in the second half of January.

The bounceback may have caught some investors off guard, given shorting the greenback was one of the most popular macro trades last month. Until the end of last week, US threats against Greenland and President Donald Trump’s apparent embrace of the currency’s selloff had only fueled debate around the greenback’s long-term decline.

Read more here.

Yahoo Finance's Ines Ferré reports:

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) hovered near $76,000 per token on Sunday with some strategists cautioning that its recent sell-off may not be over as investors seem reluctant to buy the dip.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency dropped sharply over the weekend to reach its lowest level since last April, and notch its fourth straight month of losses.

The move lower coincided with President Trump’s announcement on Friday selecting Kevin Warsh to lead the Federal Reserve when Jerome Powell’s term ends in May, a nominee markets view as hawkish.

Ether (ETH-USD) and other digital tokens also slid alongside gold (GC=F), silver (SI=F) and other metals which crashed on Friday, with losses extending on Sunday evening.

With bitcoin now nearing a $73,000 support level, “current flows suggest sentiment has shifted meaningfully,” said a 10X Research note on Sunday night.

Read more here.

Bloomberg reports:

Gold (GC=F) fell, following its biggest plunge in more than a decade, and silver whipsawed in choppy trading after a dramatic pullback from record highs.

Spot gold fell as much as 6.3% on Monday. Silver swung sharply, dropping to around $75 an ounce having earlier climbed as much as 3.2%. The white metal recorded its biggest ever intraday loss in the previous session.

“This isn’t over,” said Robert Gottlieb, a former precious metals trader at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and now an independent market commentator, adding that a reluctance to take further risk would constrain market liquidity. “We’ve got to see if it’s going to find support. The bottom line is that the trade was way too crowded.”

Over the last year, precious metals have risen to all-time highs that have shocked even seasoned traders. The rally accelerated sharply in January, as investors piled into gold and silver on renewed concerns about geopolitical upheaval, currency debasement and the independence of the Federal Reserve. A wave of buying from Chinese speculators added froth to the rally.

Read more here.