TradFi News |TradFi Week in Review: Silver Drops 18% in October, Intel Has Its Worst Day Since 1974, and a 10-2 Fed Hold Keeps a December Hike in Play

Global markets swung sharply in the week to Friday, October 30. Precious metals fell hard, US tech stocks sold off on worries about AI spending, and the Federal Reserve held rates without ruling out a December hike. Strong US growth and inflation data kept expectations of higher rates in place.Gold and Silver SlumpSpot gold closed Friday at $3,876.89 an ounce, down 6.7% for October, while silver closed at $49.13, down more than 18% for the month. Stronger-than-expected US data reinforced expectations of high interest rates, and rising real rates weighed on both metals, according to the summary. Brent crude found support from Middle East supply risks.Tech Stocks Sell OffThe Nasdaq and S&P 500 fell for a third straight week as enthusiasm for AI trades cooled. The Nasdaq lost 5.3% in October, its worst month since March 2025. Alphabet fell as much as 13% intraday on concerns about capital spending and cash flow, and Intel plunged 28.58% on Friday, its worst day since 1974. Apple closed with a market value of $5.03 trillion, ahead of Nvidia’s $4.93 trillion, to reclaim the title of the world’s most valuable listed company.Fed Holds in a Split VoteThe Federal Reserve voted 10-2 to keep rates unchanged, with two officials favoring a 25 basis point hike. Chair Kevin Warsh said the US economy is growing strongly but inflation has run above target for nearly six years, and future decisions will depend on incoming data. Data released the next day supported the hawkish case: third-quarter GDP grew at a 3.4% annualized rate, above the 3.2% forecast, and core PCE inflation rose to 3.1% in September from 3.0%. CME FedWatch shows a 75% chance of a 25 basis point hike in December.AI Spending Under ScrutinyThe cost of building AI infrastructure became a central market concern. Meta announced an equity financing plan of up to $97.5 billion, SpaceX raised about $40 billion through equipment leasing, and Oracle said it expects to need up to $20 billion in outside financing by fiscal 2030. Anthropic publicly filed for an IPO, disclosing revenue of $16.3 billion for the first half of 2026 and about $637 billion in long-term computing and infrastructure commitments.Chipmakers Post Strong ResultsAI demand continued to lift chipmaker earnings. SK Hynix’s third-quarter operating profit jumped 632% from a year earlier, and SanDisk’s revenue rose 378% in its first fiscal quarter of 2027. Even so, the week’s sell-off showed investors are focusing more on whether AI spending can turn into real profits and free cash flow.