Crypto markets came under pressure again over the weekend. Alternative’s Fear and Greed Index for digital assets stood at 25, up slightly from 24 a day earlier but far below last week’s average of 50, putting sentiment back in the “extreme fear” range. Bitcoin also struggled to stay above the $90,000 mark, and selling in blockchain-linked equities continued.
U.S. stocks finished mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 285.30 points to 49,098.71, the S&P 500 added 2.26 points to close at 6,915.61, and the Nasdaq rose 65.22 points to 23,501.24. U.S. President Donald Trump temporarily scrapped a plan to impose taxes on eight European countries starting in February, easing trade tensions, but demand for defensive assets did not disappear.
Blockchain-related stocks remain under pressure
Shares tied closely to the crypto sector extended their declines. The source reported that MSTR fell 7.8%, Coinbase lost about 5.5%, and Circle (CRCL) dropped 7.5%. With Bitcoin showing weak price action, investors kept reducing exposure to crypto-linked names. All three major U.S. indexes also ended the week lower, while both the Dow and the S&P 500 posted a second straight weekly decline.
Single-stock moves added to the cautious tone. Intel slumped 17% after missing on guidance, dragging heavily on the Dow. Microsoft gained 3.28%, and another stock in the report rose 1.5%, offering some support to large-cap tech, though not enough to reverse the broader shift toward safety.
Precious metals rally as silver takes center stage
Precious metals moved the other way. Spot silver jumped as much as 7.34% and touched $103 per ounce intraday, while gold’s year-to-date gain reached 141.3%. The move pointed to capital rotating toward metals backed by physical inventory and industrial demand.
The report also said the U.S. dollar index had fallen from 108.5 to 98. At the same time, demand tied to AI and green energy industries boosted the outlook for industrial metals, adding support to buying across the precious metals complex. With that sector rotation in place, metals and energy drew inflows, while crypto-related stocks stayed exposed to pressure as legislation such as the CLARITY Act remained unclear.