Gold and Silver See Volatility Again; ‘Southeast Asia’s Little Tencent’ Aims for Trillion-Dollar Market Cap | Tonight’s Key Points
1. The US dollar strengthened for three consecutive days, with significant intraday adjustments in spot gold and silver; major corporate earnings reports supported pre-market sentiment in US stocks.
2. Leaked documents show that Amazon aims to replace 600,000 American workers with robots.
3. NVIDIA is in talks to provide guarantees for part of OpenAI’s loans.
4. Due to the US government shutdown, Unilever has postponed the spin-off and IPO of its Magnum ice cream brand.
Cailian Press reported on October 21 (edited by Shi Zhengzhi) that supported by overall positive earnings reports from major U.S. companies, the U.S. stock market remained in a sideways consolidation state during Tuesday’s pre-market trading. As the U.S. dollar strengthened for the third consecutive day, assets such as gold and silver experienced significant adjustments.
As of the time of writing, Nasdaq 100 Index futures (December 2025 contract) fell by 0.05%, S&P 500 Index futures rose by 0.01%, and Dow Jones futures increased by 0.02%.
Spot gold began a significant plunge after 15:00 Beijing Time on Tuesday, retreating from an all-time high of $4,381 per ounce to $4,220. Although there was no clear driving event, profit-taking at record highs, signs of easing geopolitical tensions, the end of India’s seasonal purchases, and a strengthening U.S. dollar all weighed on gold prices.
(Spot gold minute chart, source: TradingView)
Regarding the future trend of gold, analysts stated that the next focus would be on whether there are signs of观望 buying entering the market. UBS Group commodity analyst Giovanni Staunovo commented, “In my view, many market participants have not yet joined this rally in gold. They are waiting for prices to pull back before entering, which will limit the downside for gold prices.”
Spot silver fell more than 5%. Traders and analysts noted that with the increase in overseas silver inflows, liquidity pressures in London’s spot silver market have been alleviated.
As of Tuesday’s pre-market session, the U.S. stock earnings season has provided support to the market. GE Aerospace, Coca-Cola, and General Motors, which released their earnings reports on Tuesday before the market opened, all delivered good news to investors. After the market closes on Tuesday, Netflix, an internet streaming platform, will release its earnings report, kicking off the tech sector’s earnings season.
For the consumer electronics industry, Samsung is set to unveil its new XR product targeting Apple’s Vision Pro in the United States on Tuesday evening local time. According to several tech bloggers who had the opportunity to experience the device, Samsung’s headset is generally on par with Vision Pro, but the key difference lies in Samsung’s ability to leverage Google’s latest AI — a notable weakness for Apple.
Other Market News
[Quick Overview of Earnings Season News in the U.S. Stock Market]
GE Aerospace rose nearly 3% in pre-market trading as its Q3 revenue and profit both exceeded expectations, and the company raised its full-year outlook. The aircraft manufacturer benefited for the second consecutive quarter from strong air travel demand;
General Motors surged over 11% in pre-market trading, with results surpassing expectations across the board, while also lowering the anticipated impact of tariffs on its performance;
Coca-Cola climbed over 2% in pre-market trading as its earnings and revenue beat expectations, while reaffirming its full-year guidance;
[Founder of ‘Southeast Asia’s Little Tencent’ Aims for a Trillion-Dollar Market Cap Target]
Forrest Li, founder and CEO of Sea Group, stated in a memo to employees on Monday that achieving a market capitalization of one trillion US dollars in the future is possible as the company leverages AI to expand its business — a staggering figure that would be ten times higher than Sea’s current market value of $98.1 billion!
[Leaked Documents Reveal Amazon’s Plan to Replace 600,000 U.S. Workers with Robots]
The latest information released on Tuesday shows that Amazon is actively advancing its automation plans, expecting to avoid hiring more than 160,000 employees who would otherwise be needed by 2027. As this plan progresses, by 2033 Amazon could avoid adding over 600,000 new employees. In response, Amazon stated that the related documents are incomplete and do not represent the company’s overall recruitment strategy.
[Uncertainty Surrounding Musk’s Mega Pay Package]
Following ISS, another well-known proxy advisory firm has urged Tesla shareholders to vote against an upcoming resolution, potentially hindering Elon Musk’s approximately $1 trillion compensation package.
[NVIDIA in Talks to Guarantee Part of OpenAI’s Loan]
Recent reports indicate that NVIDIA is discussing guaranteeing part of the loan planned by OpenAI for the construction of its self-operated data centers. These negotiations over the loan guarantee are part of a broader collaboration on data centers, including OpenAI adopting a leasing rather than purchasing model to acquire NVIDIA chips.
[Unilever Delays Magnum Ice Cream Spin-off IPO Due to U.S. Government Shutdown]
Unilever announced on Tuesday that due to the ongoing U.S. federal government shutdown, which has prevented the Securities and Exchange Commission from approving the registration statement required for Magnum Ice Cream’s listing on the New York Stock Exchange, the company has adjusted the timeline for the spin-off IPO. The original plan was to list Magnum Ice Cream simultaneously on Euronext Amsterdam, the London Stock Exchange, and the New York Stock Exchange on November 10. Unilever remains committed to completing this business divestiture by 2025.
Other Events/Data to Watch Tonight
October 21
21:00 Federal Reserve holds payment innovation conference, discussing stablecoins, artificial intelligence, and tokenization & Fed Governor Waller delivers remarks
October 22
03:30 Fed Governor Waller delivers closing remarks at the Federal Reserve Board’s Payment Innovation Conference
After-hours Netflix releases earnings report
