New York
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Wall Street merchants are grappling with sharp swings in treasured metals, bitcoin is hovering at its lowest degree since April and there are lingering nerves about know-how shares.
It’s been a bizarre few days on Wall Street. Gold and silver, thought of havens amid uncertainty, have skilled huge volatility. A ferocious rally in treasured metals this 12 months halted with a painful drop on Friday.
Meanwhile, bitcoin slumped over the weekend, tumbling from above $83,000 to as low as $74,570 and hitting its lowest degree since April. Bitcoin is down sharply from a report excessive above $126,000 in October. And markets in Asia kicked off February on a down note: South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index sank 5.26% on Monday and had its worst day since April.
The hottest trades on Wall Street throughout the previous 12 months — from treasured metals to South Korean tech corporations — are experiencing turbulence after huge positive aspects.
Gold hit a report excessive above $5,550 a troy ounce on Wednesday earlier than dropping 11% on Friday. Silver plunged 31%. Gold early Monday dropped as low as $4,423 earlier than paring losses and buying and selling round $4,740.
Wall Street lately has skilled cases of so-called meme inventory mania, the place merchants rally round a particular firm to try to journey a surge in its share worth. Some buyers say comparable themes of exuberance have developed round treasured metals as they’ve change into more and more well-liked investments.
“More recently, some serious froth and leverage entered this asset class…as its continued rally got the attention of individual investors and momentum-based investors alike,” Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak + Co, stated in a note.
“The recent run up in precious metals feels to have an enormous speculative element,” Jim Reid, international head of macro analysis at Deutsche Bank, stated in a note.
“While a correction had been increasingly anticipated — and was arguably overdue — the speed and depth of the sell-off proved a stark wake-up call,” Ole Hansen, head of commodity technique at Saxo Bank, stated in a note.
Hansen stated the rally in treasured metals and notably silver — supported by robust demand from Chinese buyers — had additionally been “increasingly driven by FOMO and speculative excess.”
“When gold and silver turn into hot topics at dinner tables and in workplaces, it is often a sign that a particular phase of the rally is nearing exhaustion,” Hansen stated.
While treasured metals have seen wild swings, bitcoin — as soon as pitched as a type of “digital gold” and regarded an alternate retailer of worth — has languished this 12 months amid heightened geopolitical uncertainty. The world’s largest cryptocurrency by market worth is down nearly 12% this 12 months, struggling to realize traction after closing barely within the crimson for 2025.
Meanwhile, in South Korea, the market had its worst day in months amid nerves about spending by corporations on synthetic intelligence. The drop comes whereas Wall Street is within the midst of company earnings season, and buyers are equally assessing the well being of massive tech corporations’ spending plans on AI.
US shares became the inexperienced and rose Monday morning to kick off February buying and selling: The Dow was up 300 factors, or 0.6%. The benchmark S&P 500 rose 0.45%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.65%.
“While technically stores of value, still with strong long-term fundamentals, the total collapse in precious metals prices shows that any market can become gripped by mania, especially in the age of financialization and gamification,” Kyla Rodda, senior monetary market analyst at Capital.com, stated in a note.
President Donald Trump’s announcement that he tapped Kevin Warsh as his Fed chair nominee additionally contributed to a shift in market sentiment.
Gold futures had been down 0.4% Monday morning. Silver futures rose 0.7%. Despite the drop on Friday, gold is up 9% this 12 months and silver is up 12%.
South Korea’s Kospi soared 76% in 2025 and up to now has been a number one inventory market index this 12 months. South Korea’s inventory market has benefited from investor enthusiasm about AI.
Julian Emanuel, senior managing director at Evercore ISI, stated in a note that current strikes in gold, silver, copper and South Korean tech shares may be categorized as “exuberant” or “parabolic.”
Emanuel stated his outlook for shares stays constructive, and he expects the S&P 500 to rise roughly 13% this 12 months.
“It’s a market to watch for vulnerabilities and extremes,” stated Darrell Cronk, CIO for wealth and funding administration at Wells Fargo.
Mohit Kumar, chief economist and strategist for Europe at Jefferies, who has been lengthy on gold since 2022, stated he thinks the sharp drop was an “unwind of crowded positions” as against any “systemic risks.”
“In the coming days, attention will turn to China, a key driver of demand in recent months and a market where local prices have traded at a premium to London,” Hansen at Saxo Bank stated.
Wall Street this week will get a slate of company earnings outcomes — together with from tech stalwarts Alphabet (GOOG) and Amazon (AMZN) — as properly as financial information releases — just like the January jobs report on Friday — that would affect market strikes. Investors within the coming months may also be attuned to Warsh’s remarks throughout his affirmation hearings for the Fed chair position.
The US greenback index was up 0.6% on Monday after rising 0.74% on Friday and having its greatest day since June, stabilizing after a current slide.
Deutsche Bank is sticking with its name for gold to hit $6,000 a troy ounce by the top of the 12 months.
“Significant institutional investors have signalled the probability of a gradual multi-year diversification away from dollar-denominated assets, and we are not aware that this has changed,” Michael Hsueh, analysis analyst at Deutsche Bank, stated in a note.