Gold Slides, Bitcoin Hits One-Month Low as Tech Stocks Weigh on Markets
Gold briefly surged past $5,600 per ounce Thursday morning—its first move above $5,000 since Sunday—before plunging nearly 10% to below $5,200 in U.S. trading. Silver followed a similar path, falling from $121 to $108 per ounce.
The decline was exacerbated by Microsoft (MSFT), whose shares dropped over 11% after reporting slower cloud growth, one of its worst days since March 2020. The tech giant’s slump dragged the Nasdaq down roughly 1.5%, fueling risk-off sentiment.
Crypto markets were caught in the sell-off. Bitcoin BTC $81,527.05 fell from above $88,000 to $85,200, its lowest level in more than a month, down 4.5% in 24 hours. Altcoins saw sharper losses, with Ethereum ETH $2,544.07, Solana SOL $109.95, DOGE $0.1068, and ADA $0.2983 all dropping 5%-6%.
Crypto equities also declined. Strategy (MSTR), the largest corporate bitcoin holder, fell 8% to 52-week lows. Bullish (BLSH), Twenty One Capital (XXI), Circle (CRCL), and Coinbase (COIN) were down 4%-8%.
Market volatility spiked as the S&P 500 VIX rose 16% to 19, its second-highest since November, while the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) rebounded to 96.6, adding pressure to risk assets.
