U.S. Indices Mixed as Tech Earnings Split Sentiment; Gold Hits $5,550, Oil Rises

Major U.S. indices diverged Thursday (January 29, 2026) as investors digested mixed tech earnings following the Fed’s rate hold. Meta (META-US) surged over 9% pre-market on raised capex guidance and strong revenue outlook, while Microsoft (MSFT-US) fell nearly 7% on slowing cloud growth. As of 10:00 PM Taipei time, Dow rose 0.11%, S&P 500 gained 0.11%, Nasdaq dropped 0.31%, and Philadelphia Semiconductor Index climbed 0.75%. TSMC ADR fell 0.67%. Gold spiked 3.95% to $5,551/oz, silver hit $120/oz (+63% YTD), and Brent crude rose 4.11% to $70.14/barrel amid geopolitical tensions. Investors are rotating into hard assets amid dollar weakness (DXY at 99.185) and skepticism over AI capex conversion to profits. Caterpillar (CAT-US) jumped 2.7% on data center-driven power sales; Dow Chemical (DOW-US) fell 4.7% after announcing 4,500 job cuts. Alibaba (BABA-US) rose 2.3% on logistics unit merger.