Gold and Silver Rebound After Plunge Shock… AI and Manufacturing Drive US Stock Market Recovery

U.S. equities rebounded on February 2 after a steep sell-off the previous day. The S&P 500 closed up 0.5% at 6,976.44, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.1% to 49,407.66, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.6% to 23,592.11. Small- and mid-caps also rallied: the Russell 2000 jumped 1%, suggesting risk appetite had partly returned.

The turnaround was driven by stronger-than-expected manufacturing data. January’s ISM Manufacturing PMI improved to 48.9 from 47.9 in December, easing concerns about a sharp economic slowdown. As a result, cyclical sectors and smaller stocks attracted buying, while U.S. Treasury yields ticked up only modestly.

Commodities remained volatile. After gold and silver plunged the day before—gold slipped below $4,500 per ounce intraday and silver swung nearly 9%—both precious metals recovered some losses by the close. Oil prices fell on waning Iran-related risk, benefiting consumer-discretionary and leisure names such as airlines and cruise operators. Bitcoin also rebounded to around $78,000, stabilizing after its prior rout.

On the sector front, semiconductor and data‐center stocks—key beneficiaries of artificial-intelligence spending—led gains. Micron, SanDisk and AMD all climbed, while Palantir, Amazon and Alphabet held firm ahead of upcoming earnings. Nvidia, however, saw heightened volatility after reports that its planned investment in OpenAI might be scaled back, prompting the market to recalibrate expectations for AI budgets.

Among individual names, Apple stood out with a more than 4% rise after reaffirming record quarterly revenue, making it the best performer among big tech. Investors are now eyeing after-hours reports due February 3 from AMD, Enphase Energy, Skyworks and Jacobs, as well as Merck’s pre-market results, for the next market inflection point. Meanwhile, uncertainty over U.S. monetary policy—underscored by President Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh for Fed chair and investigations into Jerome Powell—and the forced unwinding of leveraged positions in gold and silver after their recent spike are likely to keep volatility elevated in the near term.