{"id":132156,"title":"What happened overnight – Monday 2nd February 2026","publisher":"Share Talk","author":"sharetalk","published":"2026-02-02T07:57:29+00:00","modified":"2026-02-02T07:57:29+00:00","canonical_url":"https://www.share-talk.com/what-happened-overnight-monday-2nd-february-2026/","markdown_url":"https://www.share-talk.com/what-happened-overnight-monday-2nd-february-2026.md","json_url":"https://www.share-talk.com/what-happened-overnight-monday-2nd-february-2026.json","category":"B2B","categories":["B2B","Blogs","Technology","Technology, Media & Telecoms"],"tags":["Asia-Pacific shares","Davos","Donald Trump","Greenland","Japanese bonds","Liberation Day","US dollar","US Treasury yields","Wall Street","World Economic Forum"],"featured_image":"https://i0.wp.com/www.share-talk.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/overnight-1-1.webp?fit=750%2C406&quality=80&ssl=1","format":"news","language":"en-GB","content":"Asian shares, precious metals and oil slumped sharply in a global market rout, as investors fretted about the outlook for US interest rates and the risk of an artificial intelligence bubble bursting.\n\nHeavy selling swept through markets after US President **Donald Trump** announced his nominee to lead the **Federal Reserve**, unsettling investors already nervous about stretched valuations in AI-related stocks.\n\nSouth Korea’s stock exchange was briefly halted after the benchmark **Kospi** plunged 5.3% to 4,949.67. Tech heavyweights bore the brunt of the sell-off, with **Samsung Electronics** falling 6.3% and chipmaker **SK Hynix** sliding 8.7%.\n\nThe Kospi had been setting record highs in recent weeks as technology stocks surged on the back of the AI boom, fuelled by partnerships involving major players such as **Nvidia** and **OpenAI**.\n\nMarkets also reacted to uncertainty over how **Kevin Warsh**, Trump’s nominee for Fed chair, might steer monetary policy. US equity futures fell sharply, with S&P 500 futures down 1.2% and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures off 0.9%.\n\nA growing concern among investors is that the Federal Reserve could lose some of its independence under political pressure, a fear that had previously helped drive gold prices sharply higher and weaken the US dollar over the past year.\n\nThat trade has now reversed violently. Gold fell 5.8% in early Monday trading, while silver slumped 12.3%, extending Friday’s sharp pullback that ended a record-breaking rally in precious metals. Oil prices also came under pressure, with Brent crude down 4.5% at around $66 a barrel.\n\nThe rout followed a weak finish on Wall Street on Friday, when the **S&P 500** slipped 0.4% to 6,930.03, the **Dow Jones Industrial Average** fell 0.4% to 48,892.47 and the **Nasdaq Composite** dropped 0.9% to 23,461.82."}