Stocks fell sharply, even though the S&P 500 finished the day down just 85 basis points. Technology and software stocks were hit the hardest, pushing the Nasdaq 100 down more than 1.5% and dragging the XLK ETF lower by over 2%.

Gold is staging a strong recovery toward $5,000, while Bitcoin remains under pressure after a significant breakdown. The divergence highlights a shift in speculative flows as markets react to new Federal Reserve leadership and policy shifts.

Gold price (XAU/USD) trades in positive territory near $4,985 during the early Asian session on Wednesday.

The Pound Sterling traded in a narrow range against the US Dollar on Tuesday, edging modestly higher to near 1.3700 as markets adopted a cautious stance ahead of the BoE first policy decision of 2026.