Quick overview

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Investors stayed focused on precious metals, as trading became erratic before year-end following their relentless surge in 2025. After falling 9% in the previous session, silver recovered about 4% on Tuesday. The white metal’s historic rally, driven by speculative trades and supply shortages, was followed by a selloff.

Gold rose 0.7% after dropping more than 4% on Monday. Among other metals, copper headed for its longest winning streak since 2017 in a December rally supported by the expectation of more supply chain stress.

Nickel hit its highest level since March after the leading producer, Indonesia, announced plans to cut supply to boost prices. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump hinted he might fire Jerome Powell, the current head of the Federal Reserve, and suggested he has a preferred candidate for the role but isn’t in a rush to announce it.

Additionally, investors were assessing the outlook for US monetary policy and interest rates. Despite Fed rate cuts, Wall Street rate strategists expect stable or higher Treasury yields in 2026, with a few notable exceptions. Bitcoin fluctuated in other markets.

. The dollar index slightly declined. As traders balanced concerns about oversupply against geopolitical tensions from Venezuela to Russia and Iran, oil prices increased. After dropping 0.2 percent on Monday—its first decline in eight sessions—the MSCI All Country World Index barely moved. Futures on the S&P 500 showed minimal change.

Both a gauge of Asian stocks and contracts on the Euro Stoxx 50 Index fell 0.1 percent. For the first time since 2023, China’s onshore yuan appreciated above the key 7-per-dollar level in currency markets.