Overnight US stocks | S&P 500 Index fell for the third straight day, Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) dropped 5%, and silver plummeted over 10%.

On Thursday, the three major indices plummeted, with the S&P 500 index falling for the third consecutive trading day. Apple Inc. recorded its largest single-day decline since April 2025. [US Stock Market] At the close, the Dow fell 669.42 points, or 1.34%, to 49,451.98; the Nasdaq fell 469.32 points, or 2.03%, to 22,597.15; and the S&P 500 Index fell 108.71 points, or 1.57%, to 6,832.76. Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) fell 5%, NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) fell 1.64%, and Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN.US) fell 2.2%. SanDisk (SNDK.US) rose 5%. [European Stock Market] The Germany DAX30 index fell 1.46 points, or 0.01%, to 24,878.95; the UK FTSE 100 index fell 68.66 points, or 0.66%, to 10,403.45; the France CAC40 index rose 27.32 points, or 0.33%, to 8,340.56; the European Stoxx 50 index fell 16.28 points, or 0.27%, to 6,019.36; the Spain IBEX35 index fell 141.70 points, or 0.79%, to 17,902.80; and the Italy FTSE MIB index fell 255.33 points, or 0.55%, to 46,255.50. [Cryptocurrency] Bitcoin fell 1.9% to $65,810, and Ethereum fell 0.86% to $1,924.54. [US Dollar Index] The US Dollar Index, which measures the US dollar against six major currencies, rose 0.1% to close at 96.928 in the forex market. At the close of the New York forex market, 1 euro exchanged for 1.1866 US dollars, lower than the previous trading day's value of 1.1882 US dollars; 1 pound exchanged for 1.3623 US dollars, lower than the previous trading day's value of 1.3637 US dollars. 1 US dollar exchanged for 152.94 Japanese yen, higher than the previous trading day's value of 152.83 Japanese yen; 1 US dollar exchanged for 0.7697 Swiss francs, lower than the previous trading day's value of 0.7703 Swiss francs; 1 US dollar exchanged for 1.3611 Canadian dollars, higher than the previous trading day's value of 1.3561 Canadian dollars; 1 US dollar exchanged for 8.9226 Swedish kronor, higher than the previous trading day's value of 8.8813 Swedish kronor. [Precious Metals] Spot gold fell 3.15% to $4,922.3 per ounce; spot silver fell over 10% to $75.244 per ounce. After the price of gold fell below $5,000 per ounce and selling pressure intensified, the decline further widened. Spot gold fell to as low as $4,878 per ounce. Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index and FOREX.com, said, "Due to previous volatility, many may have placed stop-loss orders below $5,000 or above $5,100. As prices fell below $5,000, stop-loss orders were triggered below that level, leading to a chain reaction of selling pressure and a sharp decline in prices in a short period of time. [Oil] WTI March futures fell 2.8% to settle at $62.84 per barrel; Brent April futures fell 2.7% to settle at $67.52 per barrel. [Macro News] Initial jobless claims in the US fell less than expected, with the ripple effects of the winter storm still lingering. The US Department of Labor reported on Thursday that for the week ending February 7, seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims in all states decreased by 5,000 to 227,000, slightly higher than the market's expected 222,000. This decline only offset a small part of the previous week's significant increase, which was attributed to widespread snowstorms and cold weather across the US, as well as the normalization adjustment after the seasonal fluctuations from the end of 2025 to early 2026. Although job growth accelerated in January and the unemployment rate decreased from 4.4% in December to 4.3%, economists still describe the labor market as "low hiring, low firing." The report also showed that for the week ending January 31, seasonally adjusted continuing jobless claims increased by 21,000 to 1.862 million. This data was also disrupted by seasonal fluctuations. While the number of long-term unemployed decreased in January, the median duration of unemployment remains close to levels seen four years ago. The job market for recent graduates remains challenging. US existing home sales in January saw the largest decline in four years. Data released by the National Association of Realtors on Thursday showed that existing home sales in January dropped to an annualized rate of 3.91 million units, down 8.4% from the previous month, marking the largest monthly decline since April 2022 and falling well below the market's median expectations. The widespread snowstorms and ice weather that hit most parts of the US in late January may have delayed a significant number of contract closings. In the hardest-hit southern region - the largest housing market in the US - signed contracts plummeted 9% to an annualized rate of 1.81 million units; sales in other regions of the US also saw significant drops. "The below-average temperatures and above-average precipitation in January make it more difficult than usual to determine the fundamental drivers of the sales decline, and it is uncertain whether this month's data is an outlier," said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at NAR, in a statement. With mortgage rates recently falling and home price growth slowing down, signals of improved affordability are becoming a bright spot in the housing market. NAR's housing affordability index rose to its highest level since 2022 last month, but still remains below pre-pandemic levels. Without sustained improvements in affordability, the housing market recovery may be prolonged. Bank of America: Difficulty in shaking the market with a "potential agreement" between the US Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve. Economists at Bank of America Corp pointed out that speculation among investors about a potential "collaborative agreement" between the Federal Reserve and the US Treasury Department is raising questions. The bank believes that such an agreement's "definition is still unclear" and is likely already priced into the market. "Unless the agreement goes beyond the current scope of market discussions, any new agreement is unlikely to cause substantial price movements," said Bank of America, stating that the agreement will mainly revolve around the Fed's balance sheet reduction and US bond issuance. Economists expect that if monetary policy is affected (which the bank believes is highly unlikely) or if the Treasury Department restricts long-term bond issuance (which is a possibility according to Bank of America), the impact on the market would be greater. Institutions: Kevin Warsh may not be the hawkish figure that the market expects at the Federal Reserve. Analyst Krishna Guha from Evercore ISI believes that Kevin Warsh's reputation as a hardliner on inflation may be exaggerated. While his nomination initially raised US bond yields and lowered gold prices, Warsh should be seen as a pragmatic conservative who can distinguish between supply-driven and demand-driven inflation, making him more flexible in the current environment. Warsh has pointed out that artificial intelligence and productivity improvements are positive supply shocks that may alleviate the pressure for tightening policies. He also advocates for balance sheet reduction but is unlikely to implement aggressive tightening that could disrupt the markets. In a politically tense environment, it is expected that the Fed will continue to pursue a consensus-based approach, despite facing unusually high pressures. BlackRock, Inc.: South Korea ETF attracts $281 million in a single day, marking a record-high inflow in 25 years. BlackRock, Inc.'s ETF, which is heavily invested in South Korean chip manufacturers, attracted $281 million in a single day on Wednesday, setting a record for the largest single-day capital inflow in over 25 years for the fund, indicating that investors are doubling down on the rise of Asian semiconductor stocks. The $13 billion iShares MSCI South Korea ETF, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix as its top two holdings, has already driven the South Korean stock index up over 30% this year to reach historic highs. Data shows that the ETF has seen inflows of over $3 billion in the past three months. Despite concerns about overvaluation in AI, causing broader tech stocks to fluctuate, investors are rotating towards memory chip manufacturers with clearer profit prospects. "As anxieties about AI disruption sweep across many industries, the haven appears to be memory stocks," said Dave Lutz, stock sales trader at Jones Trading and macro strategist, "Samsung and Hynix are continuously driving up the South Korean market." [Stock News] NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) to lease data center built with $3.8 billion junk bond financing. NVIDIA Corporation expects to lease a data center built using $3.8 billion junk bond financing. This further elevates the borrowing frenzy surrounding artificial intelligence infrastructure. According to sources familiar with the matter, an entity backed by asset management company Tract Capital will issue debt to provide funding for the construction costs of a 200-megawatt data center and substation in Storey County, Nevada. The bond issuance size increased by $150 million in Thursday afternoon due to strong demand. Sources added that the pricing discussions are expected to yield a return of around 6%. Bidding farewell to the era of subsidies, Rivian (RIVN.US) bets on R2's counterattack. Electric car manufacturer Rivian, as it seeks to control costs during a critical period before the launch of the next-generation SUV, warned that this year's losses may be higher than expected. When releasing fourth-quarter financial results, Rivian forecast an adjusted pre-tax profit loss of $1.8 billion to $2.1 billion in 2026. Although the upper end of this range shows an improvement from last year's losses, it still exceeds analysts' previous expectations of about $1.8 billion loss. This forecast indicates that Rivian's path to profitability remains challenging, facing weak demand for electric cars, high raw material costs, and the loss of regulatory credit income after the cancellation of EV-friendly policies under Republican leadership. Rivian also stated that the highly anticipated R2 midsize electric SUV will be launched for sale in the second quarter as planned. This model is crucial for Rivian to achieve higher output and improve profitability, as it will be launched at a lower price point. [Major Bank Ratings] Citigroup: Raises Cloudflare's (NET.US) target price from $260 to $265, maintaining a buy rating.