Gold and silver plunge and rebound late at night, Meta up 10%, Microsoft down 10%, TAL Education surges 18%, over 220,000 people liquidated in cryptocurrencies

U.S. Eastern Time Thursday, the three major U.S. stock indices closed mixed, with technology stocks diverging. Meta surged 10%, while Microsoft plummeted 10%; most Chinese online education stocks rose, with TAL Education up over 18%; gold and silver experienced a massive shakeout late at night, plunging during trading to briefly give back all gains, then bottoming out and rebounding; cryptocurrencies were all heavily down, with over 220,000 traders liquidated.

Specifically, large-cap tech stocks showed divergence, Nvidia rose 0.52%, marking three consecutive days of gains; Google increased 0.71%, closing at a record high; Meta surged nearly 10%, with Q4 2025 earnings exceeding expectations.

On the downside, Microsoft fell over 10%, as its cloud business growth slowed in Q2 of fiscal 2026, despite record-high capital expenditures. Tesla dropped over 3%, marking its first revenue decline for the full year.

Microsoft’s sharp decline heavily impacted the software sector, with ServiceNow, which beat earnings and revenue expectations, falling nearly 10%; Oracle dropped 2.19%, and German software firm SAP fell over 15%.

After hours, Apple released its latest earnings report, with key financial metrics for Q1 2026 reaching all-time highs, and its after-hours stock price briefly surged over 3%.

Storage concept stocks generally rose, with SanDisk closing up over 2%, and after-hours gains approaching 16%. Seagate Technology rose nearly 1%, while Micron Technology closed slightly higher.

Popular Chinese concept stocks showed mixed performance, with the NASDAQ China Golden Dragon Index rising slightly by 0.35%. Most online education stocks increased, with TAL Education up over 18%, driven by better-than-expected Q3 2026 results; NIO, KE Holdings, and Atour Hotels rose over 3%, while Tencent Holdings, Xiaomi Group, and Meituan all saw modest gains.

On the downside, Xiaoying Technology, Canadian Solar, and Pony.ai fell over 8%.

International precious metals futures experienced a massive shakeout late at night, with gold and silver plunging during trading, briefly giving back all gains, but ultimately closing higher, with COMEX gold and COMEX silver both up over 1%. As of 7:00 AM Beijing time on January 30, gold and silver continued their upward trend.

International oil prices surged, with WTI crude oil futures and ICE Brent crude both rising over 3%. According to Xinhua News Agency, recently, the U.S. issued threats of military strikes against Iran and increased military deployments in the Gulf region, while Iran stated it would retaliate. Market concerns about escalating tensions in the Middle East potentially disrupting oil transportation.

Major cryptocurrencies collectively declined. As of 6:30 AM Beijing time, Bitcoin fell over 5%, dropping below $84,500 per coin, while Ethereum, SOL, DOGE, and others fell over 6%. In the past 24 hours, over 220,000 traders were liquidated globally, with total liquidation exceeding $1 billion.

After days of selling, the U.S. dollar index showed signs of recovery. As of 6:30 AM Beijing time on January 30, the dollar index rose 0.02% to 96.19. According to Xinhua News Agency, the “currency devaluation trade” has resurged, with impacts surpassing previous statements by Bessent on maintaining a stable dollar exchange rate. The “currency devaluation trade” refers to investors shifting to alternative assets due to concerns that the dollar’s purchasing power will decline long-term.