Late tech sell-off hits USTEC, silver sinks to 2026 lows; Tokyo CPI and BoJ up next

Daily Wrap, Thursday, 29 October 2026. Published 21:15 UTC.

Mixed: Indices averaged -0.29% over 24h and CHF topped the strength board at 0.37, but there was no broad haven bid: JPY scored -0.05 and gold fell 1.13% even as stocks dropped.

In short

• US tech sold off after the cash close. USTEC is down 1.5% on the day and US500 is down 0.53%. AMZN is down 7.25% after the platform flagged a -9.76% 15-minute drop at 20:06 UTC; our news feed has no single clear driver for it.
• US data was strong but did not lift the dollar for long. GDP printed 3.4% against a 3.2% forecast, core PCE matched at 3.1% YoY and claims came in at 194K against 199K, and the ECB held at 2.5%. EURUSD hit a 17-month low of 1.1104, then recovered to 1.11771, up 0.31% since the last note. USD finished second-weakest on the strength board (-0.15).
• Metals kept falling: XAGUSD is down 3.07% on the day at 52.164 and XPTUSD is down 3.24%. Gold is down 0.76% but held above 4000. Oil rose 0.99% to 103.56. Next up are Tokyo CPI at 23:30 UTC and the BoJ around 03:00 UTC, where a hold at 1.25% is expected.

Themes

After-hours tech hit, no haven bid

The selling came after the US cash close: alerts flagged USTEC, NVDA, META and JP225 falling within minutes of AMZN's -9.76% 15-minute drop at 20:06 UTC, and our feed has no single clear driver. The tape was not uniform, with MSFT up 1.11% and AAPL up 0.72% on the day. Gold did not catch a bid either, as a desk headline noted the stock rout failed to spark haven demand.

Strong US data, softer dollar

GDP beat and core PCE matched, but the desk notes in-line PCE added no fresh hawkish impulse. The 7-year auction cleared at 4.894% versus 5.085% before, December hike odds eased to 81% from 85%, and DXY slipped briefly below 102.00. Since the last note GBPUSD is up 0.4% and USDCHF is down 0.5%. The desk flags Friday's ECI (12:30 UTC, f/c 0.8%) and the Daly and Musalem speeches as the next tests.

Metals selling is about rates, not the dollar

Silver fell to fresh 2026 lows even as the dollar softened. The desk reads that as December Fed hike bets doing the work, and the gold/silver ratio jumped to 76.41 from 75.35. The day's range ran well above normal in silver (1.45x) and platinum (1.72x). Gold held just above 4000, with a 4005.15 low.

Overnight BoJ, then euro growth and inflation

USDJPY sits at 157.682 inside a tight H4 band. The desk notes a hawkish hold is priced and intervention warnings cap yen downside near the range top. Euro-area GDP and inflation data follow in the European morning. The desk sees asymmetric euro downside on soft growth, since hawkish ECB news did not lift the currency.

What moved

• USTEC −1.50% Most of the damage came after the cash close, with a 1.26% 15-minute drop flagged at 20:11 UTC alongside falls in AMZN, NVDA and META; our news feed has no single clear driver.
• AMZN −7.25% The platform flagged a -9.76% 15-minute plunge at 20:06 UTC and a 4.56% partial rebound at 20:21 UTC; our news feed has no single clear driver.
• XAG/USD −3.07% Silver broke its yearly range floor near $52.60 to fresh 2026 lows. The desk says the GDP beat and low jobless claims kept December Fed hike bets intact, and silver fell even as the dollar softened.
• XPT/USD −3.24% Platinum sold off alongside silver in the broader metals slide; our news feed has no platinum-specific driver.
• XTI/USD +0.99% WTI rebounded from a 100.48 low to 103.56, near Wednesday's ~$103 high. The desk says Hormuz attacks and Houthi strikes on Saudi assets kept dips shallow, but our feed has no single clear driver for the late push.
• EUR/USD +0.31% EURUSD recovered from a 17-month low at 1.1104 after the in-line ECB hold. A 0.3% one-hour rise was flagged around Lagarde's press conference as the dollar softened.

Releases

• USD Gross Domestic Product Annualized 3.4%. The beat briefly lifted the dollar, pushing EURUSD to its 1.1104 low and USDJPY above 158.00 per the desk, and fed the metals slide.
• USD Core Personal Consumption Expenditures - Price Index (MoM) 0.3%. The in-line print added no fresh hawkish impulse, and the dollar later gave ground, with USDCHF down 0.5% since the last note.
• USD Core Personal Consumption Expenditures - Price Index (YoY) 3.1%. It matched forecasts and kept December hike pricing in place, though the desk notes odds eased to 81% from 85%; gold ended down 0.76% on the day.
• USD Gross Domestic Product Price Index 2.2%. The desk says markets largely ignored the big miss, and metals kept sliding.
• USD Initial Jobless Claims 194K. The low print reinforced the hawkish read that pushed silver through its yearly range floor.
• USD Personal Spending 0.5%. The desk says soft spending and income, together with renewed dollar selling, pulled USDJPY back from above 158.00; it sits at 157.682.
• EUR ECB Rate On Deposit Facility 2.5%. The hold was no surprise. EURUSD rose 0.3% in an hour around Lagarde's press conference per a platform alert and now trades at 1.11771.

Levels to watch

• EUR/USD 1.1104 H4 support at Thursday's 17-month low, set when the 1.1113 double low briefly gave way.
• USD/JPY 158.35 H4 resistance capping the tight 157.60-158.35 band under a series of lower highs.
• XAU/USD 4,000.00 D1 support at the retested range floor; the session low was 4005.15.
• XAG/USD 51.988 H4 support in an extending downtrend; the session low printed marginally beneath it at 51.97.
• GBP/USD 1.3380 H4 resistance just above the current 1.33763, below the 1.3419 peak.

Ahead

• 23:30 UTC JPY Tokyo Consumer Price Index (YoY) No forecast is listed (previous 2.7%). It is the last inflation read before the BoJ and could shape expectations of a December signal for USDJPY and the yen crosses.
• 23:30 UTC JPY Tokyo CPI ex Food, Energy (YoY) No forecast is listed (previous 3%). The desk uses it as a gauge of underlying inflation momentum into the BoJ, with JPY pairs exposed.
• 03:00 UTC JPY BoJ Interest Rate Decision A hold at 1.25% is forecast and roughly 86% priced, so the desk sees guidance on December, or a surprise hike, as the swing factor for USDJPY and the JPY crosses.
• 06:30 UTC JPY BoJ Press Conference The Governor's tone on a December move can extend or reverse the decision-time reaction in JPY pairs.
• 08:00 UTC EUR Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (YoY) It is forecast at 4.9% against 5% previously. It is part of Friday's euro-area inflation run that tests a euro trading near 17-month lows.
• 09:00 UTC EUR Gross Domestic Product (QoQ) It is forecast at 0.1% against 0.3% previously. The desk sees soft growth as the bigger risk for EURUSD and EURGBP given the euro's stagflation framing.
• 10:00 UTC EUR Gross Domestic Product s.a. (QoQ) It is forecast at 0.2% against 0.6% previously. It closes out the euro growth block before the US session, with EUR pairs exposed.

Until the next note, the BoJ's December signalling around 03:00 UTC, after Tokyo CPI at 23:30 UTC, is the main event risk, while Iran's expected answer to the Qatari draft by Friday hangs over oil at 103.56.