US Stocks Hit as Tech Drops – Nasdaq down 1%
US equity markets closed lower in yesterday’s session, with stocks retreating as profit-taking weighed on technology shares and investors rotated into more defensive positioning. The S&P 500 fell 0.53% to 6,926, marking its first back-to-back daily losses of 2026, while the Nasdaq underperformed, sliding 1.00% to 23,471. The Dow Jones proved relatively resilient, easing just 0.09% to finish at 49,149. US Treasury yields moved lower after Core PPI data came in slightly weaker than expected. The 2-year Treasury yield fell 2.3 basis points to 3.510%, while the 10-year yield declined 4.7 basis points to 4.132%. The pullback in yields weighed modestly on the US dollar, with the DXY index edging down 0.04% to 99.09. In commodities, oil prices pushed lower as reports suggesting that civil unrest in Iran may be easing reduced geopolitical risk premiums. Brent fell 0.99% to $64.82 a barrel, while WTI declined 1.13% to $60.47. In contrast, precious metals continued to attract strong demand, with gold rising 0.87% to close at a fresh record of $4,626.58. Silver was the standout performer, surging more than 6% on the day as momentum and safe-haven flows remained firmly in place.
Silver Outshining Gold in Current Markets
Whilst gold has continued to trade in a similar vein in the first couple of weeks of the new year as it did in 2025, it has been hugely outdone by silver in the last few days. It has smashed through all-time highs on three separate occasions already this year and looks set to do so again today. A lot of column space had been given to gold’s rise in the last year, but given that silver was trading under $50/oz as recently as November 21 and is now trading above $92/oz, representing a 90% increase, many traders feel that they may have missed the boat. Traders are now looking for it to hit $100/oz in short order but are aware that some of the pullbacks can be significant, as liquidity is much thinner than its golden counterpart. We have seen daily falls of over 10% on some occasions in the recent move higher, so it’s not for the faint-hearted; however, for those that have hung in over the last couple of months, the rewards have been great. Short-term support is now at yesterday’s low of $86.85, with longer-term support on the daily trendline at $78.15, while resistance is at the recent high of $93.57.
Traders Anticipate Another Buy Day Ahead
Looking ahead, market participants will continue to monitor geopolitical developments, while attention will also turn to several key economic releases due later in the day. There is very little of note on the macroeconomic calendar in the Asian session again today; however, things should start to liven up when Europe comes in. UK GDP data (exp +0.1% m/m) is scheduled for release early in the London session alongside Industrial Production (exp +0.2% m/m) and Manufacturing Production (exp +0.4%) data, although the GDP numbers are expected to dominate. The US session features Weekly Unemployment Claims (exp 215k), the Empire State Manufacturing Index (exp 0.8), and the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index (exp -1.6) data sets, all released early in the day, before we hear from more Fed speakers, including members Bostic, Barkin, Schmid, and Barr.
