On October 21 local time, the three major US stock indices closed mixed, with the Dow Jones hitting a record high, the S&P 500 flat, and the Nasdaq falling slightly.

Large technology stocks were mixed: Amazon rose over 2%, while Intel, Apple, Microsoft, and Meta saw slight gains; Google fell over 2%, Tesla dropped over 1%, and Nvidia declined slightly. General Motors surged nearly 15%, marking its best single-day performance in the past five years.

The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index fell 0.97%. Among popular Chinese stocks, Daqo New Energy dropped over 5%, Alibaba and NIO fell over 3%, while Jinko Solar, Baidu, Li Auto, and Vipshop declined over 2%.

The FTSE A50 index futures continuous night session closed down 0.25% at 15,193 points.

International gold and silver fell sharply: The Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index plunged 9.57%. Spot gold once fell over 6% during the session, hitting a low of $4,080.87 per ounce, marking its largest single-day drop since April 2013. Spot silver fell 7.11%, at one point recording its largest decline since 2021. COMEX gold futures closed down 5.07%, while COMEX silver futures fell 6.27%.

Multiple cryptocurrency varieties fell sharply. As of 7:18 on October 22, over 170,000 positions were liquidated, with liquidation amounts exceeding $700 million.

Analysts pointed out that profit-taking was one of the main reasons triggering this plunge. Additionally, the temporary easing of global trade tensions led to a decrease in safe-haven demand, also suppressing gold and silver prices. The strengthening US dollar index made precious metals more expensive for most buyers. Changes in the Russia-Ukraine situation have also introduced significant uncertainty into the gold market.

According to incomplete statistics from 21st Century Business Herald reporters, gold has reached record highs 46 times this year (based on intraday highs). Banks such as China Everbright Bank, Industrial Bank, China Merchants Bank, and China Construction Bank have recently issued clear warnings about market risks in precious metals business. The frenzied influx of capital has also forced fund companies to "close their doors to investors," frequently lowering subscription limits.

The latest Bank of America Global Fund Manager Survey for October shows that 43% of surveyed investors believe "long gold" is the most crowded trade currently, surpassing "long US tech stocks" at 39%. This proportion indicates that gold has become a widely favored safe-haven asset among global investors, but it also reflects market expectations of potential overvaluation in gold prices.