Late-night gold plunge, silver crashes 26%, spot gold falls below $4900! US stocks decline across the board, the dollar surges! The US announces new sanctions on Iran

【Introduction】The US dollar posts its largest single-day gain since July, while gold and silver plunge, dragging down commodity currencies

This has been a sleepless night.

Last night and early this morning, panic selling swept through the precious metals market, with the US dollar experiencing its largest single-day increase since July 2025. All three major US stock indices declined across the board.

Gold and silver plunge, dragging down commodity currencies

First, look at the closing data for precious metals: spot silver soared to a high of 36% intraday decline, finally closing at 85.259 USD/oz, down 26.42% for the day, returning to prices around January 13.

Spot gold fell over 12 intraday, with a low below 4700 USD/oz, ultimately closing at 4880.034 USD/oz, down 9.25% for the day, returning to prices around January 22.

International precious metals futures generally suffered heavy losses.

This crash-style plunge marked silver’s largest single-day decline ever, and gold’s biggest drop since the early 1980s, with the upward trend hitting a “hard brake.”

Citi said on Friday that gold investment allocations are supported by a series of intertwined geopolitical and economic risks, but about half of these risks may subside later this year. Some core risk factors supporting gold demand include concerns over US government debt and AI uncertainties, which could keep gold prices at levels above historical averages. However, most of the risks priced into gold are unlikely to fully materialize in 2026, or even if they do, they won’t sustain into beyond 2026.

“If Wosh’s nomination is approved, it will further confirm our long-standing view that the Federal Reserve remains politically independent. And this view is another medium-term negative factor affecting gold prices,” Citi stated.

Regarding the US dollar, affected by the sharp decline in precious metals prices and factors such as Trump’s nomination of Wosh as Federal Reserve Chair, the dollar surged significantly on Friday, marking its largest single-day increase since July 2025.

In terms of crude oil, by the close of the day, NYMEX WTI crude futures for the current month rose by 0.32 USD, closing at 65.74 USD per barrel, a 0.49% increase.

All three major US stock indices decline across the board

Last night and early this morning, the three major US stock indices all declined.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.36%, to 48,892.47 points; the S&P 500 declined 0.43%, to 6,939.03 points; the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.94%, to 23,461.82 points.

Looking at January performance, all three indices gained cumulatively. The Nasdaq gained 0.95%, the Dow gained 1.73%, and the S&P 500 gained 1.37%.

In terms of sectors, large-cap tech stocks declined across the board, with the Wind American Tech Seven Giants Index falling 0.32%.

In individual stocks, Tesla surged 3%, Apple rose; META fell nearly 3%, while Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia, and others declined, with AMD dropping over 6%, and Intel down over 4%.

On the news front, previously Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s other companies are reportedly in merger negotiations with SpaceX regarding an IPO.

Most Chinese concept stocks declined, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index falling 2.36%, after a 2.69% gain in January. Popular Chinese stocks included Alibaba, which fell 2.68%, and KE Holdings, Li Auto, and Xpeng Motors, which declined over 3%. NetEase, Baidu Group, JD.com, and Tencent Music all fell over 2%.

US announces latest sanctions on Iran

On the international front, according to CCTV News, the US Treasury Department announced a new round of sanctions against Iran on January 30 local time, targeting Iranian Interior Minister Iskander Momeni and several senior officials of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The US Treasury’s website updated the sanctions list on the same day, adding 7 individuals and 2 entities. Besides Momeni, the list includes Majid Hadi, a commander of the IRGC intelligence department, and commanders of the IRGC in Tehran Province, Gilan Province, and Hamadan Province.