U.S. Stocks Open Lower Amid Volatility in Gold, Oil, and Bitcoin; Dow Rises Slightly

U.S. major indices opened lower on February 2, 2026, as markets turned cautious at the start of a new month and week. Sharp volatility in precious metals—gold briefly down 10% and silver plunging 16% before paring losses—weighed on sentiment, alongside falling oil prices, a stronger dollar, rising Treasury yields, and pullbacks in Nvidia and Bitcoin. As of 22:00 Taipei time (14:00 UTC), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 107.89 points (0.22%) to 49,000.36, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 64.56 points (0.28%) to 23,397.26. The S&P 500 declined 6.32 points (0.09%) to 6,932.71, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index edged up 0.02%. Oracle (ORCL) gained 1.4% after recovering from early losses following its $50 billion financing plan for AI infrastructure, while Disney (DIS) dropped 7.5% despite strong earnings. Tesla (TSLA) fell 3.6% on news of shifting Model S/X production to humanoid robots targeting 1 million annual units by 2026.