Dow Jones rises over 300 points, SanDisk surges 12%, Chinese concept stocks mostly decline, XPeng drops over 10%, oil prices plummet 4%, nearly 200,000 people get liquidated in cryptocurrencies

February 2nd, U.S. stocks opened lower across the board, and as of 23:24, the three major indices turned positive. The Dow Jones rose 0.71%, the Nasdaq increased 0.72%, and the S&P 500 gained 0.52%.

The seven major U.S. stock giants saw mixed performance, with Nvidia and Tesla opening sharply lower, down 2%. Facebook declined 1.4%, while Apple rose 1.7%.

The U.S. stock storage sector strengthened, with SanDisk up over 12%, Seagate Technology up more than 5%, and Western Digital up over 4%. On the news front, SanDisk’s revenue for Q2 of fiscal year 2026 reached $3.03 billion, a year-over-year increase of 61%; net profit was $803 million, up 672% YoY. Citigroup raised SanDisk’s target price from $490 to $750.

Cryptocurrency concept stocks mostly declined, with Strategy down over 6%. Oracle rose over 3%, as the company launched a dollar bond issuance plan. Disney fell over 8%, the largest intraday decline since November, with Q1 revenue of $25.98 billion, up 5% YoY.

Chinese concept stocks mostly declined, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index down 0.67%. Xpeng Motors fell over 10%, NIO dropped over 5%, iQiyi declined over 3%, Baidu and Bilibili fell more than 1%. Suxuantang Pharmaceuticals surged over 40%, and Dingdong Maicai rose over 7%.

In commodities, precious metals continued to adjust. As of press time, spot gold fell 2.43%, spot silver declined 3.89%, and Shanghai Silver dropped over 19%. According to Cailian Press, data shows that the 30-day volatility of gold has risen above 44%, the highest since the 2008 financial crisis. This level exceeds Bitcoin’s approximately 39% volatility.

JPMorgan analyst Gregory C. Shearer stated that the upward momentum of gold prices will continue. “We remain firmly bullish on gold’s medium-term outlook. Currently, the performance advantage of physical assets over paper assets is deeply rooted, and there is a clear, structural, and ongoing trend toward diversified asset allocation, which still has room to develop further.”

Looking ahead, JPMorgan predicts that gold remains a flexible and diversified hedge tool for investment portfolios. Current investor demand exceeds previous expectations. The demand for gold from central banks and investors worldwide this year is sufficient to push gold prices to $6,300 per ounce by the end of 2026. 【Details】

Oil prices plummeted sharply, with WTI crude and Brent crude both falling more than 4%. Among them, ICE Brent crude briefly dropped below $66 per barrel. According to Xinhua News Agency, citing Axios News on February 2, U.S. presidential envoy Witterkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Alaraji are expected to meet in Istanbul, Turkey, on the 6th to discuss a “possible nuclear agreement.”

In cryptocurrencies, after the Asian market opened on Monday, Bitcoin continued to decline to $74,560 per coin, marking a 2.5% intraday drop, approaching the record of $74,430 set on April 7 last year after Trump announced the so-called “reciprocal tariffs.” Moreover, Bitcoin has experienced four consecutive months of decline, the longest streak since 2018, when Bitcoin fell from $10,000 to $3,100 during the bubble burst. As of press time, Bitcoin has stabilized slightly, rising 0.75%. Ethereum increased by 0.04%. In the past 24 hours, nearly 200,000 traders worldwide have been liquidated.

According to CCTV News, on the evening of January 30 Beijing time, U.S. President Trump nominated former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh as the next Fed Chair. Warsh’s early hawkish stance and calls for “balance sheet reduction before rate cuts” triggered sharp declines in precious metals and risk assets. Cryptocurrencies also faced heavy sell-offs.

Many crypto industry insiders are tempering expectations for 2026’s crypto trends. Market maker Wincent director Paul Howard admitted that he does not believe Bitcoin will hit a new all-time high in 2026. Even more, Ferro BTC Volatility Fund founder Richard Hodges said he has warned Bitcoin whales to remain patient, as they will not see Bitcoin reach new highs in the next 1,000 days.