Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesUS futures fell Monday, while silver and gold tumbled following Friday's strong jobs data.As investors believed the Fed would lower support sooner, gold fell over 4% before it recovered.However, oil prices dropped elsewhere as worries grew about coronavirus infections around the globe.Subscribe to our daily newsletter 10 Things Before The Opening Bell.US stock futures fell Monday while gold and silver tumbled, before paring losses. Investors increasingly believe that the US Federal Reserve will decrease its support for the economy earlier than they previously thought.S&P 500 futures fell 0.18% while Dow Jones futures fell 0.28%. This suggests that markets will open earlier and trading will be slower. Futures for Nasdaq 100 were roughly flat.Overnight, China's CSI300 jumped 1.3% in Asia and Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.27% in Asia. Early trading saw a 0.04% drop in Europe's Stoxx 600, which is a pan-European index.However, the real action took place in the silver and gold markets. Prices fell sharply in Asian trading.Spot gold fell more than 4% and silver dropped as high as 7% before the metals began to recover their losses. In European trading, gold was down 1% at $1,745.90 per ounce, while silver was lower at $23.84 per ounce.The unusual selloff appeared to be driven by the stronger-than-expected US jobs figures released on Friday, which showed that nonfarm payrolls climbed by 943,000 in July, well above expectations of around 870,000.Continue reading: Goldman Sachs names 26 stocks that have strong balance sheets and can continue beating the market despite the Fed's tapering plan causing chaos elsewhereAlex Kuptsikevich (senior market analyst, trading platform FxPro), stated that robust employment and wage growth have removed the last formal hurdles before the Fed begins cutting back on its asset-buying programme. "These first cuts in [bond-buying] could be made as soon as September," said Alex Kuptsikevich, senior market analyst at FxPro.When times are good, gold and silver are considered "safe-haven" investments. They are less appealing to investors than other options. Higher interest rates could cause money to move away from fixed income investments with higher yields like bonds if the Fed reduces its support.Analysts believe that the sudden drop in prices was caused by stop-loss order. Once a asset's price drops below a certain point, these orders are used to sell it. The selling of assets increased as there were fewer buyers during the normally quiet Asian trading session.Oil prices also suffered a loss, but not for the same reason. Many investors worry that the rise in Delta variant coronavirus cases could impact the global economic recovery as well as lower energy demand.Brent crude oil fell 4.05% to $67.83 per barrel, while WTI crude dropped 4.25% to $65.36 per barrel.The key 10-year US Treasury yield (which moves in the opposite direction to price) was about flat at 1.287%. The dollar index was flat at 92.80.Bitcoin rose 1.8% to $44,643 in the crypto markets. It reached $45,000 on Sunday, the highest level since May, before falling back.
