Panic selling swept through the precious metals market on Friday (January 30), with gold and silver prices plummeting sharply during the New York session. Spot silver at one point dropped over 36%, while gold fell by more than 12% at its peak. Specifically, spot silver prices began accelerating their decline starting at 23:00 Beijing time, hitting an intraday low of around $74.31 per ounce near 02:40, with the maximum decline exceeding 36%. At the time of writing, the silver price was quoted at $85.8, with the loss narrowing to around 26%. This sharp decline in precious metals was initially triggered by the news that "Trump announced the nomination of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed Chair." Some analysts believe this nomination has alleviated market concerns about the Federal Reserve's independence, boosting the US dollar and putting pressure on gold and silver. Krishna Guha, Vice Chairman of Evercore ISI, stated that the market is trading based on a "hawkish Warsh" scenario, noting that "Warsh's nomination helps stabilize the US dollar and reduces the one-sided risk of a continued dollar weakening, thereby challenging the logic of the 'currency debasement trade'—which is also the reason for the significant drop in gold and silver." The "currency debasement trade" refers to investors avoiding government bonds and currencies due to fears of persistently expanding government debt, instead flocking to physical assets, especially precious metals. Furthermore, a stronger US dollar will also increase the cost for investors outside the United States to purchase gold and silver.
The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index fell 2.36% overnight. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 179.09 points, or 0.36%, to close at 48,892.47; the S&P 500 index declined by 29.98 points, or 0.43%, settling at 6,939.03; and the Nasdaq Composite Index decreased by 223.3 points, or 0.94%, finishing at 23,461.82. For January, the Dow gained 1.73%, the Nasdaq rose 0.95%, and the S&P 500 increased by 1.37%. Technology stocks were mostly lower, with AMD down over 6%, Intel falling more than 4%, and Meta dropping nearly 3%. Gold and silver stocks saw significant declines; the world's largest silver ETF, iShares Silver Trust, fell over 28%, Coeur Mining dropped more than 16%, Gold Fields declined over 14%, and Pan American Silver was down more than 13%. Most popular Chinese concept stocks declined, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index falling 2.36% for the day, though it accumulated a 2.69% gain for January. Bilibili, Li Auto, and XPeng each fell over 3%, while Alibaba, NetEase, Baidu, and JD.com each declined more than 2%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ADRs also fell; calculated proportionally, it closed at 27,158.76 points, down 228.35 points or 0.83% from its Hong Kong close. Profit-taking pressure on precious metals surged dramatically, leading to a crash-like plunge for gold and silver, with silver plummeting up to 36% intraday and gold falling over 12% at its peak. At the close, spot gold was down $480.82, or 8.95%, at $4,892.21 per ounce. Spot silver fell $30.50, or 26.37%, to $85.17 per ounce.
Hong Kong SAR Government Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po stated that confidence among overseas companies and investors in investing in Hong Kong is strengthening. Last year, the number of companies based in Hong Kong from both domestic and international firms, as well as Hong Kong startups, increased significantly by over 10%, exceeding 11,000 and 5,200 respectively. Furthermore, according to recent surveys by some foreign chambers of commerce, a majority of their member companies are optimistic about Hong Kong's business prospects, with the proportion expressing positive expectations reaching a multi-year high.
A new document from the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reveals that SpaceX is applying to launch and operate a constellation of up to 1 million satellites possessing unprecedented computational power (orbital data centers) to support advanced artificial intelligence. The company stated in the filing: "To provide the computational power required for large-scale AI inference and data center applications serving billions of users globally, SpaceX proposes to deploy a system of up to 1 million satellites. These satellites will operate within narrow orbital shells up to 50 km wide (leaving sufficient space for other similarly ambitious systems to avoid conflict)." The satellites are planned for deployment in orbits ranging from 500 km to 2000 km in altitude, utilizing a sun-synchronous orbit inclination of approximately 30 degrees. They will be solar-powered and connected via optical links (lasers) to the existing Starlink network to route computational results to ground users.
In response to a question about a Panamanian ruling related to ports, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun stated at a regular press conference on January 30 that China will take measures to safeguard the rights and interests of Chinese enterprises. A reporter asked about the Panamanian Supreme Court's announcement authorizing the invalidation of the contract for CK Hutchison Holdings to operate port terminals in Panama. These two terminals are part of a portfolio of 43 port assets that CK Hutchison is attempting to sell, with a potential buyer consortium including US-based BlackRock and China's COSCO Shipping. "I believe you have noted the relevant enterprise has immediately issued a statement indicating that the ruling contravenes the laws under which Panama approved the relevant concession, and the enterprise reserves all rights, including legal proceedings," Guo said. He added that China will take all necessary measures to resolutely protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies.
Southern Manganese (01091) announced that its substantial shareholder, Mr. Zhang Ming, disposed of a total of 535 million company shares. The announcement refers to a disclosure of interest notice submitted by Mr. Zhang concerning a relevant event occurring on January 28, 2026, related to his long position in the company's shares. On that date, Mr. Zhang sold a total of 535 million shares, representing approximately 10.83% of the company's total issued share capital, at an average price of HK$0.24 per share. Following the completion of this disposal, Mr. Zhang no longer holds any shares and ceases to be a substantial shareholder of the company.
SERES (09927) announced that in January 2026, the company's production of new energy vehicles reached 44,098 units, a year-on-year increase of 121.72%, while sales reached 43,034 units, a year-on-year increase of 140.33%. Specifically, production of SERES brand vehicles was 40,296 units, up 130.09% year-on-year, and sales were 40,012 units, up 143.50% year-on-year. Production and sales of other models declined. The company's total vehicle production was 46,233 units, up 104.36% year-on-year, and total sales were 45,948 units, up 104.85% year-on-year. Final data are subject to the 2026 audit figures.
UBTech announced the open-sourcing of its self-developed embodied AI large model, Thinker. This model breaks through limitations in the embodied intelligence field with its "small parameters, high performance, fully open-source" approach, aiming to create a next-generation embodied AI brain for industrial humanoid robots that provides rapid response and precise spatial perception to meet the challenges of dynamic industrial scenarios.
Yankuang Energy (01171) announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Yankuang Energy Limited, has listed for transfer the 100% equity interest in its subsidiary, Xintai Coal. The audit and assessment base date was June 30, 2025. According to the audit, Xintai Coal's net assets were RMB 88.1125 million; the assessed value of its total shareholders' equity was RMB 624 million, representing an appreciation rate of 607.66%. The listing period was from December 30, 2025, to January 27, 2026, with a reserve price of RMB 670 million. On January 30, an online auction resulted in a highest bid of RMB 3.05 billion. If the transaction is completed, it is expected to impact the 2026 net profit, but the transaction remains uncertain.
SF Intra-City (09699) issued a profit alert, forecasting that the profit attributable to the company's owners for the year ending December 31, 2025, will be no less than RMB 238 million, representing a year-on-year increase of not less than 80% compared to 2024. The adjusted net profit for the year is expected to be no less than RMB 376 million, an increase of not less than 158% year-on-year. Furthermore, the group's revenue for the year is expected to be no less than RMB 22 billion, an increase of not less than 40% year-on-year.
Dekon Agriculture & Food (02419): Hog Cost Advantages Shine, Yellow-Feathered Chickens Contribute Profits. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, based on monitoring of market prices for 50 major means of production in nine categories within the national circulation领域, in early January 2026 compared to late December 2025, prices increased for 27 products, decreased for 20, and remained flat for 3. Among them, the live hog price increased by RMB 0.8 per kilogram from the previous period, a rise of 6.8%. Huaxi Securities noted that according to PigEase data, the national average price for三元hogs this week was RMB 12.99 per kilogram, up 2.27% week-on-week. The main reasons are that in December, group enterprises and large-scale farms over-fulfilled their initial slaughter plans to meet annual targets, resulting in less pressure on commercial hog sales in January for these enterprises. Coupled with January being the peak season for holiday stocking at the terminal level and the impact of rain and snow in northern China, live hog现货prices have generally shown an upward trend since January. Western Securities released a research report recommending seizing布局opportunities in the hog farming sector and paying attention to enterprises with strong certainty of slaughter volume growth and stable operations. China Merchants Securities maintained a "Strongly Recommend" investment rating on Dekon Agriculture & Food (02419). The report stated that Dekon's livestock and poultry costs in 2025 were at an industry-leading level; yellow-feathered chickens turned profitable in Q4 and contributed significantly to earnings; and the slaughtering and meat products segment showed clear marginal improvement in the second half of the year, with overall performance meeting expectations.
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