Stocks plunge along with gold, silver, and Bitcoin as US inflation falls to 2.4%

The consumer price index rose 2.4% year-on-year in January, cooling from 2.7% in December, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Friday. That marks the slowest pace since April 2025, when President Donald Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs on U.S. imports.

Core CPI, which strips out food and energy, was up 2.5%, matching expectations. The headline CPI came in below the 2.5% forecast from Dow Jones economists, giving markets some breathing room after weeks of volatility.

On a monthly basis, the all-items index rose 0.2%, while core inflation gained 0.3%, also broadly in line with expectations. Forecasters had penciled in 0.3% for both measures.

Japanese and Indian tech stocks were hit Friday, with Trend Micro down 5.61% and NS Solutions off 2.4%. In India, Tata Consultancy Services dropped 1.82% and Infosys slipped 1.48%.

Chinese tech names also sold off. Alibaba fell 2.14%, Baidu dropped over 3%, and Meituan lost 3.06%. The broader Hang Seng Index closed 1.72% lower at 26,567.12, while the CSI 300 on the mainland dropped 1.25% to 4,660.41.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan gave up 1.21%, finishing at 56,941.97 after briefly touching 58,000 on Thursday. The Topix slid 1.63% to 3,818.85, pulled down by weakness in energy stocks.

South Korea’s Kospi erased early gains to close 0.28% lower at 5,507.01, ending a four-day run. The Kosdaq dropped 1.77% to 1,106.08.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 1.39% to 8,917.6, dragged by healthcare stocks. The Shanghai Composite fell 1.26% to 4,082.07, and Nifty 50 in India declined 1.3% to 25,471.10.

Amid the selloff, Zhipu AI surged another 16%, extending Thursday’s 30% rally, thanks to buzz around its new GLM-5 model.

MiniMax gained 11%, riding momentum from its upgraded M2.5 AI agent tools. Meanwhile, Beijing Haizhi Technology skyrocketed 260% following its $97 million IPO.

US stock futures slipped Friday morning, with S&P 500 futures down 0.4%, Nasdaq 100 futures off 0.6%, and Dow futures falling 165 points, or 0.3%.

This comes after a brutal Thursday where the S&P 500 dropped nearly 1.6%, the Nasdaq lost 2%, and the Dow tumbled 670 points, or 1.3%, on growing fears around AI disruption spreading across real estate, trucking, and software sectors.

In earnings, Applied Materials surged 10% in early trading after posting strong results and a solid outlook. Airbnb rose 5% following upbeat guidance. But Pinterest tanked 22% after missing Q4 expectations and giving a weak forecast.

European markets were mixed by mid-morning in London. The Stoxx 600 slipped 0.4%, with most major indices in the red. The CAC 40 dropped 0.55%, FTSE MIB plunged 1.86%, FTSE 100 dipped 0.14%, DAX eased 0.03%, and the IBEX 35 fell 1.17%.

French aerospace firm Safran was the standout gainer, jumping 7.3% after reporting a 3.5% rise in net income to €3.17 billion ($3.8B) and 15% revenue growth to €31.3 billion for 2025.

Cisco shares plunged as much as 12% on Thursday, posting their worst trading day since 2022. The drop followed the company’s warning about margin pressure from surging memory costs, which are being driven higher by strong demand for AI chips.

Heavy orders from firms like Nvidia have led to a global memory shortage, especially for data center components, squeezing supply for everything from smartphones to networking hardware.

That’s forced companies like Cisco, Apple, Dell, and Qualcomm to rethink forecasts. Qualcomm already flagged the memory crunch during its Feb. 4 guidance.

On Cisco’s earnings call Wednesday, CEO Chuck Robbins said the company plans to raise prices, revise contracts, and negotiate terms to respond to the rising component costs. Finance chief Mark Patterson added, “In terms of memory, we’re going to control what we can control.”

Gold collapsed as much as 4.1% in a fast drop, with spot prices last at $4,888 an ounce, down 3.4%. Silver futures dumped 9%, and spot silver lost 10% to $74. Copper sank 2.9% on the London Metal Exchange.

Retail traders had been crowding into Silver this year, but the trade flipped hard as profit-takers and speculators ran for the exit. Platinum and Palladium also dropped.

Some investors were reportedly dumping Metals to raise cash after steep Equity losses, while others rotated into Treasuries. The DXY Index rose 0.1%, signaling slight demand for the US Dollar.

Tech stocks added fuel to the panic. The Dow fell 530 points (-1.1%), led by Cisco’s 11% crash after it gave weak guidance. The S&P 500 also lost 1.1%, and the Nasdaq dropped 1.5%.

Bitcoin slid $1,000 to $65,000, while Software names cratered again. Salesforce dropped 2%, now down 31% this year. Autodesk fell over 5%, and is 26% lower year-to-date. The IGV ETF sank 3%, now 32% below its recent high.