At the start of the new year, the global financial markets welcomed the first trading day of 2026, with various assets showing an interesting divergence pattern.

On the US stock market side, the three major indices performed unevenly — the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 0.66%, the S&P 500 slightly increased by 0.19%, but the Nasdaq 100 slightly declined by 0.03%. It seems that large tech sectors are under some pressure, with Tesla falling for seven consecutive trading days, which is a concerning signal. The annual data has been released: Tesla's global deliveries in 2025 reached 1.636 million units, a decrease of about 8.6% year-over-year. More notably, this is the first time Tesla has been surpassed in annual sales by Chinese automaker BYD.

An interesting contrast has emerged: although tech giants are cooling off, the chip sector is exceptionally hot. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surged by 4.01%, with Micron Technology soaring over 10%, ASML rising over 8%, Intel up more than 6%, TSMC up over 5%, and Microchip Technology up over 4%. This wave of chip market activity is indeed impressive.

Meanwhile, Chinese concept stocks have also started the year strong, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index up by 4.38%. In individual stocks, Baidu led the gains with over 15%, while Xiaopeng Motors and GDS Holdings each rose over 10% and nearly 10%, respectively. Popular stocks like Tiger Securities, Jinko Solar, Bilibili, NetEase, and Alibaba also increased between 6% and 9%.

The precious metals market is also doing well, with spot gold rising by 0.33% to $4,332.5 per ounce, and COMEX gold futures up by 0.02% at $4,341.90 per ounce; spot silver increased by 1.74% to $72.8 per ounce, with COMEX silver futures rising even more, by 2.35%, to $72.27 per ounce.