US stocks end lower after Trump names Fed Chair nominee

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US stocks closed lower on Friday after President Trump nominated Kevin Warsh as the next Fed Chair, with the Dow and S&P 500 dropping less than half a percent and the Nasdaq shedding almost one percent. Despite the decline, some stocks like Tesla, Colgate-Palmolive, and Verizon Communications rose significantly due to positive earnings reports. The market slide was attributed to concerns over Fed independence and profit-taking opportunities.

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Market impact analysis based on neutral sentiment with 80% confidence.

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Neutral
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80%
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Short Term

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STORY: U.S. stock indexes closed lower on Friday, with the Dow and S&P 500 each dropping less than half a percent and the Nasdaq shedding almost one percent.That's after President Donald Trump nominated former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh to succeed current Fed Chair Jerome Powell when his term ends in May.Warsh is expected to favor lower interest rates but stop short of the more aggressive monetary easing linked to other potential nominees.Friday's stock slide was accompanied by a huge selloff of silver and gold, just one day after the latter hit yet another record high.But Michael Landsberg, chief financial officer at Landsberg Bennett Private Wealth Management, views Friday's market moves as somewhat par for the course given the overall upward momentum.“Look at some of the earnings that came out and a lot of them were good. So I think it's kind of one of those things where things have been up a lot and there's an opportunity to take some profits. And I think on some of these things, specifically in metals, I think there are some probably some margin calls because things are up still over 100% from a year ago. And I think people thought it would go on forever. I think there was concern about, you know, the level of Fed independence. And I think, you know, Warsh is a guy that's probably going to be a little bit more independent than some of the other candidates may have been.”Stocks on the move Friday included Tesla, which rose more than 3% after reports that SpaceX is exploring deals with the EV maker and other companies run by Elon Musk.Shares of Colgate-Palmolive gained about 6% after the toothpaste and soap maker forecast annual sales above Wall Street estimates on steady demand for household staples in markets such as Latin America and Europe.And shares of Verizon Communications jumped nearly 12% after the company forecast annual profit and free cash flow above market expectations, with aggressive promotions during the peak holiday period fueling its highest quarterly wireless subscriber additions in six years.

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Original article published by Yahoo Finance on January 31, 2026.
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