January 30 Morning Breakfast: US stocks mixed and volatile, chip market moving against the trend, precious metal prices fluctuating significantly

Focusing on market highlights, the financial news on January 30th was frequent. Good Morning Breakfast summarizes the key developments of the day. The US stock market showed clear divergence, with large tech stocks performing very differently; precious metals markets experienced intense volatility, and investor sentiment was turbulent; the chip industry chain welcomed new growth drivers; domestic AI competition grew increasingly fierce. Below are the core highlights from Good Morning Breakfast.

US Tech Stocks Show Fierce Divergence, Hardware and Software Companies Experience Polar Opposites

The Nasdaq declined by 0.72% that day, with overall pressure on the trend. Among them, Microsoft drew the most attention, with a sharp plunge during trading and ending the day with a double-digit decline, marking the largest single-day drop since the pandemic. The market cap shrank by over $400 billion in one day, making it one of the largest single-day market cap losses in US stock history. In contrast, Meta performed strongly, rising over 10%, demonstrating growth potential in social media platforms. Storage chip concept stocks like SanDisk surged over 12%, reflecting strong storage demand in the AI era.

Gold and Silver Experience Rollercoaster, Precious Metals Market Undergoes Sharp Adjustment

The precious metals market experienced extreme volatility on this day. Gold prices approached a historic high of $5,600, then plunged, with a single-day decline close to 9%. Silver’s performance was even more extreme, hitting a record high of $121 before undergoing a deep correction of over 12%. This intense fluctuation reflects the market’s re-pricing of multiple factors such as Federal Reserve policies, dollar trends, and geopolitical risks.

Crypto Market Turns, Bitcoin’s Decline Widens

Bitcoin was under pressure, with a 6% drop in a single day, reaching its lowest point in nearly two months. Amid increased volatility in US stocks and risk asset revaluation, the cryptocurrency market also faced corresponding adjustment pressures.

Chip Industry Chain Continues to Benefit, Explosive Growth Driven by Storage Demand

Driven by surging AI applications, storage chip demand remains high. SanDisk’s performance exceeded market expectations, with its stock price approaching a 15% increase after hours. Samsung Electronics’ Q4 results were impressive, with revenue reaching a record high of 93.8 trillion Korean won, and operating profit in storage business significantly increased, reclaiming the lead in the DRAM market. SK Hynix’s annual profit surpassed Samsung for the first time, and explosive growth in HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) products reshaped the semiconductor industry landscape. Nvidia’s chip demand remains hot, with Jensen Huang stating that the China visit was “very successful,” and the company is expected to achieve substantial growth this year.

Domestic AI Competition Heats Up, ByteDance and Alibaba Accelerate Deployment

ByteDance and Alibaba both plan to launch new AI models around the Spring Festival, with competition in the AI field intensifying. ByteDance CEO announced that the keyword for 2026 is “Climb to New Heights,” focusing short-term efforts on strengthening Doubao and Dola assistant applications. Doubao smartphone project is making a comeback, with new products expected to be released in Q2 mid-to-late. Alibaba is ramping up AI and cloud computing investments, with the investment scale over the next three years expected to increase from 380 billion yuan to 480 billion yuan. These measures indicate that domestic tech giants are accelerating AI infrastructure deployment to gain an advantage in general large models and application ecosystems.

Cloud Market Shows Signs of Cooling, Traditional IT Giants Under Pressure

Cloud platform backlog order growth did not meet expectations, with SAP’s stock experiencing its largest decline since 2020, reflecting concerns over slowing cloud computing market growth. In contrast, demand for storage chips exploded, hinting that the market is shifting toward higher-end AI applications.

Other Key Trends and Future Outlook

Apple’s earnings report was impressive, with revenue and iPhone sales reaching new highs last quarter, and revenue in China growing close to 40%, demonstrating its continued appeal in the consumer market. Amazon is negotiating to invest up to $50 billion in OpenAI, further deepening its AI strategy. SpaceX is considering merging with Tesla or xAI to complete strategic integration before a possible IPO this year. Anthropic CEO warned that a super-strong AI surpassing Nobel laureates’ levels could arrive in 1-2 years, sparking industry reflection on AI development speed. The World Gold Council data shows that global gold demand exceeded 5,000 tons for the first time, with retail and institutional investors leading gold purchases. London copper prices surged over 10% intraday, hitting a new high and marking the largest increase since 2009, indicating high heat in the commodities market.

Good Morning Breakfast concludes that the market characteristics at the start of 2026 are distinct: increased divergence within the tech sector, clear benefits for AI-related industries, reassessment of commodities and precious metals, and a complex and volatile global economic environment. Investors need to stay vigilant and seize structural opportunities in such an environment.