The FTSE 100 has reached a new high despite falling gold, silver and oil prices.

London’s main stock exchange closed up 1.15pc at 10,342 points on Monday, while the FTSE 250 closed at a four-year high of 23,426 points.

The rally came despite a continued rout for gold and silver. After plunging 30pc on Friday, silver fell another 7pc to $78.47 – and far below the $121 record it set just last week. Gold was down 3.6pc to $4,649 an ounce, compared to almost $5,600 last week.

Oil prices also tumbled after Donald Trump said he was hopeful of reaching a deal with Tehran. Brent crude fell 4.5pc to $66.18 a barrel and the West Texas Intermediate shed 5pc to $62 a barrel.

The FTSE 100 rose as investors switched to industries like insurance and telecoms, which are considered defensive moves in times of turmoil. Travel and leisure companies also led the index’s advance as investors bet on cheaper travel amid declining oil prices.

06:52pm

Thanks for joining us. That’s all we have for today.

The FTSE 100 reached a record high of 10,342 points at the closing bell despite another day of declines for silver and gold.

European and US stock indexes also rose while a number of commodities dropped.

Bitcoin hit a 10-month low, falling below $80,000 and touching levels not seen since Donald Trump announced tariffs on the US’s trading partners.

Natural gas prices slumped on a forecast of milder weather easing concerns about supply issues. Oil prices also slipped following Mr Trump saying he was hopeful of agreeing on a deal with Tehran just days after threatening to attack the Islamic republic again.

06:25pm

Natural gas prices have fallen sharply, reversing a rally of almost three weeks.

Europe’s TTF benchmark gas price declined 16.5pc to €33.32 a megawatt-hour after forecasts for milder temperatures eased investors’ worries about supply issues.

US natural gas futures have plunged 26pc to $3.21 per million British thermal units, the largest drop in 29 years, also on forecasts for warmer weather.

05:59pm

The FTSE 100 rose to a new high at the close despite being partially weighed down by drops in oil and gold prices.

The stock index’s biggest faller of the day was gold producer Endeavour Mining, after bullion slipped almost 4pc. Brent crude oil shed nearly 5pc to $66 a barrel.

Danni Hewson, of AJ Bell, wrote: “It didn’t matter that gold and oil prices weighed down several of the FTSE 100’s constituents as it found a higher gear today and powered comfortably to a fresh record close.

“An easing of an earlier meltdown in the price of precious metals helped reverse the direction of London’s blue-chip index at the start of what is set to be an action-packed week.

“Whilst markets have almost fully priced in a hold from the Bank of England, investors will be paying close attention to the narrative surrounding Thursday’s decision.”

05:51pm

The FTSE 100 has reached a new high at the closing bell as metals and silver started to rebound after falling following Donald Trump’s announcement that he had chosen Kevin Warsh as his nomination for Fed chair.

London’s main stock exchange rose 1.15pc to 10,342 points, extending gains to 19pc since this time last year.

Meanwhile, the mid-cap FTSE 250 hit a four-year high of 23,426 at the close.

04:31pm

European stocks have rallied as precious metals have started to recover following a sell-off.

France’s Cac rose 0.8pc and Germany’s Dax advanced 1.1pc.

Meanwhile, Europe’s Stoxx 600 reached a one-year high, climbing just over 1pc.

04:18pm

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The boss of Britain’s biggest Bitcoin company has pledged to keep buying the cryptocurrency after losing nearly $100m (£73m) in three months.

Andrew Webley, who runs the Smarter Web Company, said a plunge in the price of Bitcoin had led to significant losses but that he would buy more of the digital asset again in future “regardless of the price”.

The Smarter Web Company has spent around £220m buying Bitcoin to become the UK’s biggest “Bitcoin treasury” business – but its holdings have slumped in value as the cryptocurrency has endured a prolonged sell-off.

04:04pm

Bitcoin has started to rebound after reaching a 10-month low earlier in the day.

The cryptocurrency is up almost 2pc to $78,750 after falling to lows last seen around Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day”, when the US president announced tariffs.

Bitcoin dropped amid a global sell-off in gold and silver, extending its losses in the past three weeks to about 18pc.

03:53pm

Interest rates could fall less far if Sir Keir Starmer or Rachel Reeves is replaced, according to Capital Economics.

Alex Kerr, of Capital Economics, wrote in a note: “The data published since the start of the year suggest economic activity and price pressures have strengthened.

“But we still expect annual GDP growth to slow and the weak labour market to weigh on price pressures.

“This and the smaller rises in regulated prices this year than in 2025 mean we think CPI inflation will fall below the 2.0% target this year and stay there.

“That will allow the Bank of England to cut interest rates from 3.75% now to 3.00% this year, rather than to 3.50% as investors anticipate.

“That said, if Starmer and/or Reeves were to be replaced by a top team in favour of higher public spending then interest rates may not fall as far.”

03:10pm

Wall Street brushed off the upheaval caused by the sell-off in gold and silver in early trading.

The main US indexes turned positive as metals staged a recovery from the rout that sent fear through global markets overnight.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed by 0.3pc, the S&P 500 rose 0.2pc and the Nasdaq Composite inched up by 0.1pc.

02:55pm

One of Wall Street’s biggest banks said it still believes the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates twice this year after the nomination of Kevin Warsh as its next chairman.

Morgan Stanley said it expects changes in the central bank’s monetary policy to be “more likely to occur gradually through balance sheet policy rather than the interest rate reaction function”.

Donald Trump has repeatedly pushed for lower interest rates, calling present Fed chairman Jerome Powell a “numbskull” and a “moron”. The Fed cut rates three times at the end of last year.

Mr Warsh has called for lower rates but Morgan Stanley said his views were not “substantively outside the mainstream” and he would still need to persuade the majority of the board of Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to change the speed of rate cuts.

Economists argued that he is instead more likely to impact the economy by reducing the Fed’s vast holdings of US treasury bonds, which would potentially create tighter lending conditions.

“Warsh has called the Fed’s balance sheet ‘bloated,’ said it is ‘trillions larger than it needs to be,’ and urged a smaller balance sheet to reduce the Fed’s market footprint and inflation risk,” said Morgan Stanley’s chief US economist Michael T Gapen.

“A precondition for reducing the size of the Fed’s balance sheet is reducing bank demand for reserves. Doing that would take time and changes to the regulatory/supervisory framework.”

He added: “We continue to expect that disinflation in the second half of this year will lead the committee to ease twice more this year.”

02:37pm

The US stock market lacked direction at the start of trading as gold and silver steadied after a sharp downturn.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were down 0.1pc and 0.3pc, respectively, at the opening bell as precious metals clawed back some of their sharp losses from earlier in the day.

Gold was last down 2pc while silver had fallen around 4pc. It left the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.2pc to 48,972.16 after markets opened.

02:29pm

The rally in silver had become “unhinged” and it could fall further in the near future, an analyst has warned.

Ole S Hansen of Saxo Bank said the record rout in silver has served as a “stark wake-up call” about what happens when everyone backs a trade in the same direction, an analyst said.

He said: “While a correction had been increasingly anticipated — and was arguably overdue — the speed and depth of the sell-off proved a stark wake-up call.

“Once again, it underlined how one-sided positioning can cause outsized damage when it begins to unravel.”

He said the nomination of Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve chairman had helped send the market lower, given he is considered to favour tighter monetary policy.

Mr Hansen said this was “a perception that helped drive renewed dollar strength and added to the risk aversion seen” across stocks and commodities like metals and oil.

He added: “It was a brutal correction that left few participants unscathed, and whether a deeper setback is required to fully reset positioning remains to be seen.”

01:50pm

Asian markets closed down sharply and US stocks were on track to drop – but the FTSE 100 marches on despite the global turmoil.

The UK’s benchmark index has hit a new record high today as investors bought stocks in its other defensive sectors, such as insurance and telecoms.

FTSE 100 clearly the safe haven at present - new record high: pic.twitter.com/st9cigaTSW

— Chris Beauchamp (@ChrisB_IG) February 2, 2026

01:26pm

Wall Street was on track for declines at the start of trading in the wake of the sell-off in gold and silver.

In premarket trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.1pc, the S&P 500 fell 0.4pc and the Nasdaq 100 had dropped 0.7pc.

Gold and silver prices dropped after commodity exchange CME Group told traders they needed to hold more capital as collateral if they want to keep open their positions. It follows an historic plunge in the metals on Friday.

The rout rippled across markets as leveraged investors were forced to unwind positions under the new requirements.

US-listed gold and silver miners dropped. Newmont fell 0.5pc, while Harmony Gold and Sibanye Stillwater slid 1.2pc and 0.7pc, respectively.

12:49pm

Donald Trump has been at it again. This time he has been stirring things up in the foreign exchange markets, writes Roger Bootle.

After the dollar fell abruptly last week, he appeared to endorse the weaker currency, saying that it was “great”. It is tempting to see this as just another one of Trump’s offhand remarks that don’t mean very much. Yet as with much else, there is method in his madness.

In fact, the dollar has been weakening over the last year but since Jan 16 it has fallen pretty quickly. It is down by over 3pc against the euro and almost 4c against the yen. Overall, its trade-weighted index has fallen by 3pc.

In the wider scheme of things, these are comparatively small drops but there is ample evidence that the president and his acolytes actually want a much weaker dollar in order to make American goods more competitive at home and abroad.

12:25pm

The FTSE 100 rose by this afternoon’s trading despite the sharp downturn  in gold and silver prices.

Precious metal miners were the worst performers across the benchmark index and the mid-cap FTSE 250, dropping by 2.5pc.

Gold and silver began tumbling Friday as the dollar rebounded on news that Donald Trump had chosen Kevin Warsh to become new head of the US Federal Reserve.

Both metals were far below their record highs last week, leaving gold miner Endeavour down 3.3pc, making it the worst performer on the FTSE 100.

The index was lifted higher by pharmaceuticals companies, with AstraZeneca up 1.9pc ahead of its listing in New York later.

12:01pm

Kevin Warsh is expected to lower interest rates at the same time as reducing the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet of US government bonds, according to Goldman Sachs.

The Wall Street bank said the expected next chairman of the Fed would seeks to support “Main Street” by lowering borrowing costs.

The bank pointed out that he thinks he can do this without pushing up inflation because AI will lead to a “productivity boom”.

He has previously said: “AI is going to make almost everything cost less.”

Mr Warsh also wants to decrease the amount of US debt held on the Fed’s books by selling off its portfolio of treasury bonds.

He thinks the Fed’s large balance sheet gives ot too large of a role in financial markets, diverts cash away from the real economy and contributes to higher inflation.

Economist David Mericle said Mr Warsh had been “a frequent critic of the Fed’s balance sheet, noting that it remains far larger than it was before the 2008 financial crisis, and he continued to call for shrinking it over the last year”.

He said: “He argues that the Fed should lower interest rates while also shrinking its balance sheet so that the two policies have offsetting effects on financial conditions, limiting the impact on inflation.

“He argues that under the current policy mix, ‘Wall Street is doing great, but Main Street is not doing as well,’ and that cutting interest rates will ‘support households and small and medium-size businesses’.

11:26am

AstraZeneca might have been hoping for a quieter day to list on the New York Stock Exchange.

The UK based drug maker will start trading on the NYSE today in a move it hopes will entice US investors.

It has raised concerns that the company could move its primary listing from London to New York.

But it will launch on a day when global stocks have fallen heavily following declines in gold and silver.

The pharmaceutical giant makes almost half of its revenues in the US and in July announced plans to invest around $50bn (£36.5bn) by 2030.

The New York listing comes days after the group unveiled a tie-up with China’s CSPC Pharmaceutical Group to ramp up development of experimental weight loss and diabetes drugs in a deal worth $18.5bn (£13.4bn).

Michel Demare, chairman of AstraZeneca, said: “Today marks the start of an exciting new period for AstraZeneca, one which we believe gives broader access to the largest capital market in the world.

“This will allow even more investors to participate in AstraZeneca’s future.”

Shares were up 1.9pc in London trading.

11:03am

A former adviser to Donald Trump said the sharp sell-off in global markets was because investors were viewing the next Federal Reserve chairman as the next Paul Volcker.

Anthony Scaramucci, who was briefly White House communications director during the US president’s first term, linked the rout in stocks and metals to the nomination of Kevin Warsh as Fed chairman on Friday.

Mr Warsh has been viewed as the candidate most likely to stand up to Mr Trump over inflation and the scale of the US debt pile.

Mr Scaramucci suggested he was being seen in the same light as the late former Fed chairman Mr Volcker, who brought runaway inflation under control during his tenure from 1979 to 1987.

He is considered to have laid the foundations for the boom years of Ronald Reagan but did so through the painful application of “tight money” policies, which are usually considered a dampener on markets.

Mr Scaramucci said: “The market has decided that Kevin Warsh is Paul Volcker.”

The market has decided that Kevin Warsh is Paul Volcker.

— Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) February 2, 2026

10:31am

Retail traders have been left nursing heavy losses after racing to capitalise on the dramatic rally in gold, which has swiftly turned into a dramatic sell-off.

Merry Chen, 42, from Hangzhou om China, opened a futures trading account last week and gained 60pc on her 1 million yuan (£105,000) investment in just 48 hours.

But as gold suffered its worst day since 1983 on Friday she was forced to liquidate her positions, leaving her nursing a 750,000 yuan loss, down 84pc from the peak.

“I never imagined it could be this intense,” Chen told Bloomberg News. “It felt like a trip to a casino in Macau.”

She said she plans to close her account.

10:03am

Donald Trump’s nomination for the next chairman of the Federal Reserve helped triggered the global sell-off that has rocked markets, an analyst said.

Rhona O’Connell of StoneX said the US president’s selection of Kevin Warsh had removed an area of uncertainty that had driven investors into gold and away from the dollar.

The US currency has steadied following the appointment of Mr Warsh, who is expected to push for greater sustainability on the US national debt.

Ms O’Connell said: “I don’t think the fact that it’s Kevin Warsh makes any difference, given that the Fed is a voting board, not a one-man band. It could have been any-one, on that basis.

“The key here is that an important element of financial and political uncertainty has been removed from the equation.”

She added that silver, which has plunged as much as 41pc since Thursday, was “notoriously volatile”.

“The Cinderella analogy is holding good, again,” she said. “When she leaves the ball, she does so much more rapidly than how she arrives.”

09:32am

Bitcoin fell to a 10-month low as the global rout exacerbated declines for cryptocurrencies.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency dropped as much as 2.5pc overnight to $74,541, just shy of its lowest level since Donald Trump retook the White House a little more than a year ago.

Bitcoin lost nearly 11pc in January, which was its fourth consecutive month of declines – its longest losing streak since 2018.

Analysts warned the declines showed little sign of slowing. Other smaller cryptocurrencies were also weaker, with Ether down 4pc and Solana falling 1.6pc.

Caroline Mauron, co-founder of Orbit Markets, said: “A further drop through the 2021 highs around $70,000 would represent a damaging long-term confidence hit.”

09:03am

Gold and silver prices have continued to drop sharply in a “brutal” sell-off after hitting record highs in recent weeks.

The precious metals began falling as Donald Trump nominated Kevin Warsh to be the next chairman of the Federal Reserve.

The dollar was boosted by the news, as the former Fed governor is expected to push for a more sustainable US national debt burden.

However, this lowered some of the demand for gold, considered a safe haven in times of turmoil, pushing it to its worst one-day drop since 1983 a day after hitting a record high at around $5,600 an ounce.

Fellow precious metal silver plunged by nearly 30pc on Friday and was last down another 9pc today.

Ipek Ozkardeskaya, an analyst at Swissquote, said: “The sell-off has been far more brutal than I, and many, expected.”

He added: “For silver, the rally on the way up was faster than gold’s, so the correction on the way down is faster too.”

08:47am

European stocks fell following a global rout in energy and metal prices.

⁠The continent-wide Stoxx 600 index fell 0.4pc as it was dragged down by commodity-linked stocks.

The Cac 40 in Paris and the Dax in Frankfurt dropped by 0.3pc.

08:34am

The rout in gold and silver intensified after commodity exchange CME Group raised its requirements for the amount of collateral needed from traders in the event their bets go south.

Gold plunged as much as 7.6pc to nearly $4,400 in early trading after shedding more than 9pc on Friday in its sharpest one-day drop since 1983.

CME Group on Saturday raised the margins required from traders on its precious metal futures markets and said the changes were set to take effect after market close on Monday.

An increase in margin requirements is generally negative for the affected contracts. It means traders have been told they must hold higher amounts of capital in their accounts to cover for potential losses.

Such a move often wipes out big bets by traders who have taken out positions using leverage.

08:08am

The FTSE 100 dropped at the start of trading amid a global rout in markets.

The UK’s benchmark stock index fell 0.5pc to 10,175.33 after trading began, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 dropped by 23,092.48.

08:07am

Analysts insisted gold was “not in a bubble” as it plunged more than 20pc from last week’s record high.

Bullion has declined more than 5pc today and was at one point close to $4,400 an ounce. It had nearly touched $5,600 on Thursday.

Emmanuel Cau at Barclays said the “volatility has been extreme”, adding the market looked “stretched”.

Its decline of as much as 21.3pc from its record high in three days has already technically put the precious metals in a “bear” market, the term used by investors to describe a period of declining prices.

Mr Cau said: “Whilst gold’s allure still glitters as a hedge to left-tail risks, in the short term, a pull back and positioning reset after its sharp ascent look warranted.

But he added: “Despite screens flashing ‘overvalued,’ a certain amount of premium to gold’s fair value (c. $4000 on our model) looks durable, suggesting gold is not a bubble.”

Gold Plunges to $4402 as Bear Market Hits in Record Time

Gold is diving sharply once again as European markets open, hitting a fresh intraday low of $4402. That is ~10% below Friday's close of $4895 and $1200 (~ 21%) below last week's record high of $5602.

In just three brutal… pic.twitter.com/hspxqAQdwx

— Tony Sycamore_IG (@Tony_Sycamore) February 2, 2026

07:50am

Oil prices plunged as the tensions between the US and Iran showed signs of easing just as selling gripped global markets.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, was down around 5pc below $66 a barrel, having climbed above $70 last week, while US-produced West Texas Intermediate fell more than 5pc below $62.

It came as Donald Trump said he was hopeful of reaching a deal with Tehran after it warned that any attack on the Islamic republic would trigger a regional conflict.

Washington has hit out at the country’s leadership in recent weeks over its deadly response to anti-government protests, with Trump threatening military action.

He has also pushed for an agreement over Iran’s nuclear programme.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday likened the recent protests to a “coup” and warned a US attack would trigger a regional conflict.

Asked about the Iranian leader’s warning, Mr Trump told reporters: “Of course he is going to say that.

“Hopefully we’ll make a deal. If we don’t make a deal, then we’ll find out whether or not he was right.”

07:43am

Stocks, oil and precious metals plunged in a deepening of the volatility that struck markets at the end of last week.

Investors resumed Friday’s rollercoaster ride as a string of concerns swept the market, from Donald Trump’s trade war, to the latest batch of tech earnings and the outlook for US interest rates.

A strong January fuelled by bets on AI had sent stocks to record highs last month while gold and silver hit unprecedented levels last week.

But precious metals changed direction without any apparent catalyst on Friday. Stocks have now gone into reverse as traders questioned the wisdom of the vast sums pumped into tech and when they will see returns. That has also raised fears of a tech bubble that could soon pop.

The latest round of selling came after Microsoft announced a surge in spending on AI infrastructure, reviving concerns companies could take some time before seeing a return on their investments.

The Kospi in Seoul, which has hit multiple records this year thanks to its big tech weighting, has plunged more than 5pc.

The tech-heavy Nikkei in Tokyo and the Taiex in Taipei were down more than 1pc, while Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Wellington, Manila and Bangkok also tumbled.

07:28am

Thanks for joining me. Stocks, gold and oil have plunged in a global market rout driven by fears about AI spending and the outlook for interest rates.

Asian markets were pummelled and Wall Street was expected to open lower as a sell-off in precious metals fuelled a downturn across the world.

Gold was down as much as 7pc to nearly $4,400 an ounce, less than a week after hitting a record high close to $5,600. Silver plummeted by as much as 14pc to less than $72, having tipped above $120 for the first time last week. Oil was also down around 5pc to less than $66 a barrel.

Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade, said: “Traders are unnerved by the market tumult witnessed on Friday in precious metals.”

Gold and silver sold off sharply at the end of last week as a string of concerns swept the market, from Donald Trump’s trade war to the latest batch of tech earnings.

There were also questions over the outlook for US interest rates after President Trump nominated a Kevin Warsh to be the next chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Trading was briefly halted on South Korea’s benchmark Kospi stock index, which plunged by more than 5pc as tech giants SK Hynix and Samsung fell by more than 8pc and 5pc, respectively.

Japan’s Nikkei 225, also home to several big-name tech companies, shed more than 1pc while Taiwan’s stock exchange – where chip giant TSMC is listed – lost more than 2pc.

It followed losses on Wall Street on Friday in the wake of concerns about Microsoft’s huge spending on AI.

The tech giant resumed its downturn on Friday after falling more than 10pc on Thursday, which had wiped $357bn (£260bn) off its valuation in the second largest downturn in stock market history in a single day.

Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said the sell-off was “reflecting AI mega-cap bubble risk, in a familiar Monday morning echo of Wall Street’s late-week loss of balance”. Here is what you need to know.

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Asian shares, gold, silver and oil plunged in a global market rout over worries about the future for US interest rates and an artificial intelligence bubble.

Heavy selling swept trading desks after Donald Trump announced his nominee to be the next Federal Reserve chairman, as the market remained concerned over a possible bubble in AI.

South Korea’s exchange, which is heavily influenced by tech-related developments, briefly suspended trading as its benchmark Kospi dropped 5.3pc to 4,949.67. Samsung gave up 6.3pc, while chip maker SK Hynix sank 8.7pc.

The Kospi has been forging records for weeks as big tech companies piggybacked on the AI craze with deals with major players like chip maker Nvidia and OpenAI.

Markets also took a hit as investors considered how Kevin Warsh, Trump’s new nominee to lead the Federal Reserve, might handle interest rates. The future for the S&P 500 on Wall Street sank 1.2pc% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.9pc.

A fear in financial markets has been that the Fed will lose some of its independence because of Trump. That fear in turn helped catapult the price of gold and weaken the U.S. dollar’s value over the last year.

Early Monday, the price of gold fell 5.8pc, while silver dropped 12.3pc. Both plunged Friday as record runs in precious metals markets ground to a halt.

Oil was also hit, with Brent crude falling 4.5pc to $66 a barrel.

On Friday, the S&P 500 dropped 0.4pc to 6,930.03. The Dow lost 0.4pc to 48,892.47 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.9pc to 23,461.82.

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