Late at night, rescue efforts failed, a day felt like a century.

Source: Wall Street Intelligence Circle

Last night, the smiles had disappeared from the faces of traders on the New York Stock Exchange.

— In the Walsh era, the market must handle volatility itself.

The suffocating Friday has passed, a day that felt like a century:

- U.S. stocks closed broadly lower, with both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Index falling more than 1%, providing no cushion for Asian markets opening next week.

- Gold prices rebounded, climbing above $4,000.

- The dollar edged up but did not reach the 101 level; the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield dipped slightly to close at 4.54%; U.S. crude oil rallied sharply, far exceeding $80.

First, while the U.S. stock indices’ declines were moderate, the market remains tense. This is because the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell by 1.6%, pushing its overall drop to 20%, which meets the definition of a bear market. When Asian markets open on Monday, they will first have to absorb the “baton” of the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index entering a bear market.

Chinese AI companies have once again made Wall Street nervous. Moonshot AI announced its new generation low-cost AI model Kimi K3, hitting the most sensitive nerve of U.S. tech giants. The market suddenly began to ask: if Chinese models can achieve comparable or even superior capabilities at much lower costs, are the hundreds of billions in AI capital expenditures by U.S. tech giants a sign of overbuilding? Investors are comparing this moment to last year's “DeepSeek moment”; after DeepSeek’s release, the global AI sector underwent a rapid correction. As Chinese models demonstrate similar reasoning and coding capabilities at lower costs, Wall Street will quickly revise expectations of future pricing power for these giants.

Second, in the three highly watched markets (the dollar, U.S. Treasury yields, and oil), only oil prices saw a breakthrough, which is why the U.S. stock market’s decline was relatively restrained. However, while the dollar and U.S. Treasury yields did not surge, they remain at relatively high levels.

Third, the movements of gold and S&P 500 index futures are worth a closer look―both rebounded from 22:00 Beijing time. At the same time, a University of Michigan survey showed one-year U.S. inflation expectations dropping from 4.6% to 4.2%. Since Trump’s second term, whenever the market’s decline appeared difficult to contain, there was always a “magical” data point to boost the market. But last night, gold ultimately held its gains, closing at the high of the day, while S&P 500 index futures gave back most of their gains to end at the low. Economic data provided rescue only for gold, not for U.S. stocks.

What’s even more noteworthy is that during last night's dramatic moments, the Federal Reserve remained silent, and this itself is a message.