This week's macro highlights review: Gold and silver plunge, tech stocks sold off, suspense over a Fed rate hike in December resurfaces.

October 31 — Global financial markets saw heightened volatility this week. Gold and silver fell sharply, while Brent crude was on track for a fifth consecutive weekly gain; US tech stocks faced concentrated selling, with AI capital expenditure and cash flow pressures becoming the market focus. The Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged, but Chair Warsh did not explicitly rule out a December rate hike, further widening market divisions over the direction of monetary policy.

In precious metals, spot gold closed Friday at $3,876.89/oz, down 6.7% for the month; silver closed at $49.13/oz, down more than 18% in October. Stronger US economic and inflation data reinforced high-rate expectations, and rising real rates continued to weigh on gold and silver prices. In crude oil, Middle East supply disruption risks supported prices, with Brent crude on track for a fifth consecutive weekly gain.

In US equities, AI trading enthusiasm cooled markedly, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 falling for a third consecutive week. The Nasdaq fell 5.3% in October, its worst monthly performance since March 2025. Alphabet plunged about 13% at one point on capex and cash flow concerns, while Intel tumbled 28.58% on Friday, its worst single-day performance since 1974. Apple's closing market cap rose to $5.03 trillion, surpassing Nvidia's $4.93 trillion and reclaiming its position as the world's most valuable listed company.

On monetary policy, the Federal Reserve voted 10-2 this week to keep rates unchanged, with two officials favoring a 25-basis-point hike. Chair Warsh said US economic growth is strong, but inflation has remained above target for nearly six years, and future policy will depend on incoming economic data. US core PCE rose 3.1% year-on-year in September, and third-quarter GDP grew at a 3.4% annualized rate. CME data showed the market expects about a 75% probability of a 25-basis-point Fed rate hike in December.

On the international front, US-Iran diplomatic mediation continued, with Qatar proposing a seven-day ceasefire plan, but significant differences remained between the two sides on sanctions, port blockades, the Strait of Hormuz and the nuclear program. Meanwhile, the US was still discussing the possibility of resuming military strikes on Iran, and Middle East supply risks had not yet subsided.

In the AI industry, capital expenditure and financing pressures became a key market focus. Meta announced an equity financing plan of up to $97.5 billion, SpaceX raised about $40 billion through equipment leasing arrangements, and Oracle expected to need up to about $20 billion in additional external financing by fiscal 2030. Anthropic publicly filed for an IPO, disclosing revenue of $16.3 billion in the first half of 2026 and long-term computing power and infrastructure contract commitments of about $637 billion.

The semiconductor industry continues to be driven by AI demand. SK Hynix's third-quarter operating profit surged 632% year-over-year, Samsung Electronics' semiconductor business posted an operating profit of KRW 106.5 trillion, and SanDisk's fiscal 2027 first-quarter revenue grew 378% year-over-year. However, tech stocks suffered a sharp sell-off this week, signaling that the market is beginning to focus more on whether AI investments can translate into actual profits and free cash flow.