Silver and gold prices plummeted on Jan. 30, with silver down 31% to $78.531 per troy ounce and gold dropping 11.4% to $4,745 for April delivery. Related stocks like Hecla Mining and Newmont Corp slid, along with the S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq. Experts attribute the plunge to President Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve Chairman. Warsh’s hawkish stance on inflation and interest rates spooked traders, leading to the selloff. Gold’s relative strength index hit 84.50, signaling it was overbought, while silver’s RSI reached 91.13. The abrupt selloff was anticipated due to these extreme levels. ETFs like iShares Silver Trust and SPDR Gold Shares also fell significantly. Despite the crash, analysts suggest that precious-metal miners are still worth buying, particularly silver miners, as their production costs are low compared to market prices. While gold and silver demand is high due to central banks buying to hedge against currency debasement, the selloff may take longer to recover than anticipated. Investors who borrowed money to speculate on gold and silver may face financial repercussions, reminiscent of previous market crashes. The story was originally published by TheStreet on Feb 1, 2026.

Read more at Yahoo Finance: Silver and gold tumble triggers major reset for mining stocks