Software stocks sell-off spreads, employment data remains weak, US stocks drop over 1%, silver plunges 19%, Bitcoin crashes, US Treasury Chinese concept stocks rise

Wall Street’s selling wave has further intensified and spread across the board. Previously, the US stock market mainly showed rotations from tech stocks to value stocks, but today it evolved into a nearly all-sector decline. Weak employment data has heightened market pessimism, cryptocurrencies plummeted, investors flocked into US Treasuries for safety, and the dollar strengthened.

According to Wall Street Insights, US December job openings fell to their lowest since 2020, and January layoffs hit a new high since 2009. This data undermines the foundation of the “economic resilience trade,” forcing the market to reassess the sustainability of corporate earnings and investment spending, with the three major US indices down over 1%.

The breadth of market sell-offs has significantly expanded. Unlike a few days ago, on Thursday, the number of stocks within the S&P 500 index that declined far exceeded those that rose, even the equal-weighted index, which excludes the influence of large-cap stocks, also recorded declines.

(Only 200 stocks in the S&P 500 rose)

Unlike last April when Trump initiated a trade war that caused panic-driven sell-offs, this market turbulence was not triggered by a single factor. Instead, a series of continuous news has exacerbated concerns over overvaluation, leading many to doubt that valuations are justified, ultimately prompting collective capital withdrawal by investors.

Wall Street Insights mentioned that as model providers like Anthropic push AI capabilities into financial research, legal, and corporate services, the moat of software companies is being re-evaluated. Tech stocks, especially in the software sector, remain at the storm’s center, with related ETFs plunging 5%.

(SaaS software stocks hit their lowest since November 2023)

The software sector has experienced an eighth consecutive day of selling. UBS analyst Aaron Nordvik warned:

The sector is facing an existential threat that cannot be resolved.

Large tech companies are also not immune. Microsoft and Google, which recently reported earnings, are under pressure from capital expenditure expectations. AI development is shifting from a positive narrative to a reality check that erodes free cash flow.

Risk aversion has driven US Treasury yields sharply lower. The 10-year US Treasury yield fell more than 9 basis points, the largest single-day drop since November 2025. The more policy-sensitive 2-year Treasury yield also declined 9 basis points to 3.46%, hitting a near one-month low.

The dollar index rose 0.3% amid risk aversion. The Bank of England’s rate decision was dovish, with a 5-4 vote signaling a strong rate cut, causing the pound to fall 0.9%, approaching the 1.36 level. The European Central Bank held steady for the fifth consecutive time, with the euro slipping narrowly by 0.25%.

Along with the stock market deterioration, cryptocurrencies experienced a dramatic collapse. Bitcoin plunged 12% in a single day, falling below $64,000, nearly halving from last October’s high, marking the most severe decline since the FTX event.

(Bitcoin has fallen 50% from its peak)

Over the past 24 hours, more than 300,000 traders were liquidated. This decline has shifted from emotional adjustment to a typical deleveraging process, pushing Bitcoin into the third most oversold level in history.

Analysis suggests that based on the Bitcoin-to-gold price ratio, Bitcoin has fallen near its support level.

International oil prices declined due to news that US-Iran negotiations will be held on Friday, with geopolitical risk premiums easing. Spot gold continued to fall over 4% during Asian trading hours amid a selling wave, and silver plunged 19%, approaching $70.

Analysts believe that after the previous frenzy and last Friday’s epic crash, liquidity crises and position adjustments within the precious metals market are ongoing, with market panic even overshadowing traditional safe-haven logic.

(Gold, silver, copper, platinum all declined)

On Thursday, the Nasdaq closed nearly 1.6% lower, the Dow fell about 600 points, and the biotech index dropped over 2%. The S&P 500 briefly fell below its 100-day moving average. Among sectors, 9 out of 11 major sectors in the S&P declined, with software stock ETFs down 5%.

US Stock Benchmarks:

• S&P 500 closed down 84.32 points, down 1.23%, at 6798.40.

• Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 592.58 points, down 1.20%, at 48908.72.

• Nasdaq declined 363.993 points, down 1.59%, at 22540.586. Nasdaq 100 down 342.548 points, down 1.38%, at 24548.69.

• Russell 2000 fell 1.79%, at 2577.646.

• The VIX fear index rose 16.79%, to 21.77, reaching 23.10 at 23:34 Beijing time.

US Sector ETFs:

• US solar sector down nearly 4%, consumer discretionary and AI robot sectors down over 2%. Utilities up slightly by 0.09%, chips up 0.14%.

(US sector ETFs on February 5)

The Big Seven Tech Giants:

• Magnificent 7 index down 1.76%.

• Meta up 0.18%, Apple down 0.21%, Google A down 0.54%, Nvidia down 1.37%, Tesla down 2.17%, Amazon down 4.42%, Microsoft down 4.95%.

Chip Stocks:

• Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down 0.06%, at 7614.638.

• In the chip concept stocks, ASML ADR down 8.33%, Nova down 3.65%, ASM International ADR down 3.25%, Micron Technology down 3.06%, AMD up 2.87%, Nuvoton Semiconductor down 1.28%.

• TSMC ADR up 0.26%, reaching a new closing high.

Chinese Concept Stocks:

• Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index up 0.90%, at 7528.91.

• Among popular Chinese concept stocks, Dingdong Maicai down 15%, Ares Solar down 8.4%, Alibaba and New Oriental down 1%.

Other Stocks:

• Coherent down 0.88%, initially plunged 15% pre-market after reporting strong earnings, but profit-taking pressure weighed on the stock.

• Qualcomm down 8.46%, company lowered outlook for mobile chip revenue.

• “First Stablecoin Company” Circle down 8.74%.

European stocks fell 1%, Spain’s Banco Exterior down 8.8%, UBS and Deutsche Bank down about 4%. Italian banking sector declined over 3.2%, diverging from the UK stock market’s record high at close, Danish stocks fell over 3.9%.

Pan-European STOXX:

• STOXX Europe 600 index down 1.05%, at 611.65, continuing a downward trend after three consecutive days of record close highs.

• Eurozone STOXX 50 down 0.75%, at 5925.70.

Country Indices:

• Germany DAX 30 down 0.46%, at 24491.06.

• France CAC 40 down 0.29%, at 8238.17.

• UK FTSE 100 down 0.90%, at 10309.22.

  (Performance of major European and US indices on February 5)

Sectors and Stocks:

• In Eurozone blue chips, Spain’s Banco Exterior down 8.81%, Germany’s Rheinmetall down 6.46%, Italy’s UBI Bank down 4.20%, Deutsche Bank down 3.94%, Italy’s Unicredit down 3.72%.

• All components of the STOXX 600 declined, with Conergy down 12.34%, Mycronic down 9.56%, Delivery Hero down 9.48%, Banco Exterior Spain’s decline ranking fourth, Vestas Wind Systems down 8.67%.

Two-year US Treasury yields fell over 8 basis points. Two-year UK gilts fell 5 basis points on the Bank of England decision day. 10/30-year German bund yields declined about 2 basis points, with a V-shaped reversal during the ECB decision statement and Lagarde’s press conference.

US Treasuries:

• NY close, 10-year US Treasury yield down 7.56 basis points, at 4.1979%.

• 2-year US Treasury yield down 8.43 basis points, at 3.4669%.

  (US major maturity Treasury yields)

European Bonds:

• End of European trading, German 10-year government bond yield down 1.7 basis points, at 2.843%, trading within 2.880%-2.837% range during the day.

• UK 10-year Gilt yield up 1.2 basis points, at 4.559%, sharply dropped over 3 basis points immediately after the Bank of England rate decision announcement at 20:00 Beijing time, hitting a daily low of 4.509% at 21:50.

• France 10-year government bond yield down 0.1 basis points, 2-year French bond yield roughly unchanged, 30-year French bond yield down 0.8 basis points.

Dollar index rose over 0.2%.

Dollar:

• NY close, ICE dollar index up 0.24%, at 97.849, trading range 97.607-97.915.

• Bloomberg dollar index up 0.20%, at 1194.03, trading range 1191.07-1194.76.

  (Bloomberg dollar index)

Non-US currencies:

• NY close, EUR/USD down 0.24%, GBP/USD down 0.93%.

• Commodity currencies, AUD/USD down over 1%, USD/CAD up 0.35%.

• USD/JPY up 0.12%, at 157 yen.

Offshore RMB:

• NY close, USD/CNH at 6.9405, down 7 points from Wednesday’s NY close, trading range 6.9477-6.9338.

Cryptocurrencies:

• NY close, Bitcoin plunged 12%, falling below $63,000, nearly halving since October last year, and recording the largest single-day drop since the FTX collapse.

(Bitcoin price crash)

• Ethereum dropped 11%, falling below $1900.

US crude oil futures fell over 2.8%. Iran confirmed negotiations with the US will be held on Friday.

Crude Oil:

• WTI March futures down $1.85, a 2.84% decline, at $63.29 per barrel.

(WTI crude oil futures)

• Brent April futures at $67.55 per barrel.

Natural Gas:

• NYMEX March natural gas futures at $3.5090 per million British thermal units.

Spot gold fell 4%, silver plunged 19%, approaching $70.

Gold:

• NY close, spot gold down 4.0% intraday, at $4,763.2 per ounce. (Spot gold price)
• NY gold down 3.0% intraday, at $4,793 per ounce.

Silver:

• NY close, NY silver down 15.5% intraday, at $71.12 per ounce.
• Spot silver down 18.5% intraday, at $71.67 per ounce.

Other Metals:

• LME copper down $142, at $12,903 per ton. LME aluminum down $42, at $3,027 per ton.
• LME tin down $2,068, at $46,458 per ton. LME nickel down $308, at $17,071 per ton.

Risk Warning and Disclaimer

Market risks are present; please invest cautiously. This article does not constitute personal investment advice and does not consider individual users’ specific investment goals, financial situations, or needs. Users should consider whether any opinions, views, or conclusions in this article are suitable for their particular circumstances. Invest accordingly at your own risk.