US stocks opened lower on Monday evening, Beijing time, as traders monitored the trajectory of precious metals and Bitcoin following a sell-off. News that Nvidia's planned investment in OpenAI has stalled has cast doubt on the prospects for AI-related trades. More than 100 S&P 500 component companies are scheduled to release their earnings reports this week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 51.11 points, or 0.10%, to 48,841.36; the Nasdaq Composite dropped 80.72 points, or 0.34%, to 23,381.10; and the S&P 500 index declined 18.28 points, or 0.26%, to 6,920.75. Bitcoin fell below $80,000 for the first time since April 2025, signaling that investors are further de-risking after sharp declines in gold and silver on Friday. Silver prices, which had more than doubled over the past 12 months, plunged approximately 30% last Friday. This marked the metal's worst single-day performance since 1980. Gold also tumbled about 9%. Currently, both Bitcoin and precious metals prices have recovered somewhat from their respective lows, helping to alleviate risk-off sentiment. Bitcoin was last trading above $77,000, while spot gold and spot silver were both down more than 1%. AI Deal in Question As questions surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) emerge, Wall Street is also turning its attention to Nvidia. According to media reports citing informed sources, Nvidia's plan to invest $100 billion in OpenAI has stalled. With Nvidia's management expressing skepticism about the deal, negotiations originally slated to conclude "within weeks" have seen no substantial progress, and the collaboration has effectively been put on hold. The reports indicated that serious doubts have emerged within Nvidia regarding OpenAI's business model and long-term competitive landscape. The company's CEO, Jensen Huang, has privately expressed concerns about OpenAI's operational transparency and strategic direction. Analysis suggests that as giants like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon accelerate the development of their own AI chips (such as Microsoft's "Athena" and Google's TPU), Nvidia has recognized the significant risks of over-committing to a single client, especially one like OpenAI that may build its own chips in the future. Furthermore, as OpenAI seeks a new round of funding with a valuation rumored to reach hundreds of billions of dollars, Nvidia also has reservations about the reasonableness of this valuation. Reports state that the two parties are renegotiating the form of cooperation, which may be downgraded to a smaller-scale equity investment (for example, participation in OpenAI's new round of financing worth tens of billions of dollars) rather than the originally planned $100 billion infrastructure commitment. Nvidia has repeatedly emphasized that the "initial agreement was not legally binding" and that it "still looks forward to continuing cooperation with OpenAI." During a visit to Taiwan in late January 2026, Jensen Huang responded by saying, "When OpenAI is ready, Nvidia would be very happy to participate in its financing," but did not confirm the $100 billion plan. A Week Packed with Earnings and Jobs Data More than 100 S&P 500 component companies are set to report earnings this week, including Amazon and Alphabet. So far, the overall earnings season has been strong, but there have been some high-profile post-earnings sell-offs, such as with Microsoft. Nevertheless, Deutsche Bank strategists noted over the weekend that profit growth is on track to reach its strongest level in four years. On Monday, Disney reported earnings that exceeded analyst expectations. Wall Street is also awaiting the US January jobs report, due Friday morning. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expect the economy to have added 55,000 jobs last month. The market is also digesting news that US President Trump has nominated Kevin Warsh as his candidate for Federal Reserve Chair. If confirmed, Warsh would succeed Jerome Powell later this year as the new Fed Chair.
Comments