A panic that spreads from the precious metals market brought global investors together to witness a historic wave of asset sales on monday, 2 february 2026。
The collapse of south korea's stock market by over 5 per cent triggered the melting, the fall of over 4600 shares in a, the drop of up to 10 per cent in gold on a single day, the collapse of over 15 per cent in silver, and the collapse of a wide variety of commodities ... This “black monday” is of enough magnitude to be recorded in history。
This direct trigger for the sale of global assets was the nomination of the federal reserve chairman. United states president trump nominated kevin walsh, former federal reserve director, as the next fed chairman, while walsh’s deep-rooted “hawk-backed” chills the market。
01 global market landscape
The asia-pacific stock market has become the worst-hit area of the crash. The korean composite index dropped by over 5 per cent, triggers the melting mechanism in the disk and suspends the trade for five minutes. South korea's semiconductor plate fell, with three star electrons at the top of the industry falling by 6 per cent and the chip giant sk hercules falling by 8 per cent。
The three major a shares fell by more than 2 per cent, with a drop of 2. 48 per cent reporting 4015. 75 points. The three cities of tsingkyo fell by more than 4,600 stocks, and the stock fell by far more. Precious metals, industrial metals, semiconductors, etc. Were the first to fall, while sichuan gold, red peak gold, etc. Were the first to fall。
Large commodity markets are also subject to “historic blood washing”. A drop of over 10 per cent in the cash pallet, to a minimum of $440,206 per ounce, and a elimination of all increases since the year. Domestic commodity futures collections have collapsed and major contracts such as silver, nickel, tin and crude oil have collectively collapsed。
In contrast, the grid equipment and brewing industry has been inversely strong. Multiple increases and stops in chinese cable shares, white cloud appliances and so on; the concept of white wine is constantly active, with 3 boards in the royal wine industry and 3 boards in gold medals. The financing of defensive blocks reflects the extreme risk-averse of the market。
Zero-two, three cold waves
The unexpected changes anticipated by the fed's policy are at the heart of the crash. Walsh is the youngest member in the history of the federal reserve and the number one objector to quantitative easing (qe), and the hawks' position is deep in the marrow. Markets are concerned that when walsh comes to power, he may push the over-anticipated contraction process to reverse the global liquidity environment。
According to ipek ozkadescaya, a senior analyst at the bank of switzerland, “wosh is less dove than other fed chair candidates and tends to lower interest rates”. This nomination led to a reversal of the global capital market's expectations of a “dollar credit collapse” and a mad withdrawal of funds from risky assets such as precious metals, stock markets, etc。
The “extremely crowded trade” in the front market was the root cause of the collapse. In january of this year, the global market witnessed a wave of booms, a record high in gold and silver, and the ai science and technology unit and the resource unit were horrified by funding. This rise is not supported by fundamentals, but by the “buffalo business” driven by financial resources。
The chief investment officer of the singapore vantage point assembly management, nick ferres, put it simply: “in january, the market was crowded and highly leveraged, and almost all investors were making more than one set of assets, which, if there was a profit, would inevitably trigger stepping”。
The price of the ai plate has increased the pressure on the technology unit. Previously, the news of the imwida project investing $100 billion in openai became the core logic of the rise in the ai plate. But on weekends, the ceo wong clarified this statement directly by perceiving prior good expectations. The high valuation of the ai science and technology unit is supported entirely by “foresees” and when expectations are false, the valuation logic is bound to collapse。
A precursor to the financial crisis
Does this market crash mean that the financial crisis is coming? From historical experience, financial crises often occur on a regular basis。
On the basis of a comparative study of the great depression of the 1930s and the international financial crisis of 2008, both crises were preceded by unprecedented economic prosperity, and the governments in which the crises originated adopted extremely liberal economic policies. At the same time, large disparities in income distribution were a precursor to the crisis, with fewer people occupying more of the social wealth。
The extreme state of speculation in the popular psyche, the constant justification for believing that wealth can be made overnight, are also important signs of the financial crisis. The power of persuasion and the lack of reason for human self-inflation are important causes of the crisis at certain stages of history and under institutional conditions。
Similar to the 2008 financial crisis, the current market is characterized by a dangerous manifestation of complex financial derivatives, as well as a fever in capital markets. However, unlike in 2008, the current market crash was driven more by mood and leverage than by the overall deterioration of economic fundamentals。
As at 30 january, all blocks of a stock disclosed annual reports/treasurers/performance forecasts for 2025 on condition, and the aggregate net profits of all a shares in 2025, calculated in median terms, increased by 17. 94 per cent over the same period, continuing to improve over the previous three quarters. The trend towards improved profitability of listed companies is central to supporting long-term health in the market。
04 investor coping strategies
In the face of sharp market fluctuations, investors should be rational and adopt a strategy of “continuing and preparing”。
Control of warehousing positions is the primary task in dealing with market collapses. Until the market is clear and stable, the most taboo is to be full of silos and leverage. It is recommended that ordinary investors keep their positions below 50 per cent and retain sufficient cash to avoid the risk of secondary market bottoming and, on the one hand, to have cash to copy quality assets when markets are stable。
To circumvent the high-risk plate without taking the “falling flying knife”. At the current stage of market grinding, “no loss” is more important than “making money”. The collapse of precious metals, non-ferrous metals and large commodities from extractive plates has changed the basic logic and has not stopped in the short term. Ai technology, semi-conductor plates are probative, valuation foam needs to be digested, and there are clear signs of financial flight。
Set the defensive blocks and seize the opportunity of the fund. Power grids and public utility plates are essential to the livelihood of the population and perform with a high degree of certainty and independence from global market fluctuations. White wine, low valuation of consumer plates and high cash flows are the classic risk-averse species when markets collapse。
The use of batch-time low-barrel approaches, such as the “pyramid” approach, divides the replenishment funds into multiple parts, increasing the number of purchases when prices fall and decreasing the number of purchases when prices rise. In the case of those who are in the process of voting, discipline should be maintained。
As at the time of the release, the three european shares had been downgraded, with 100 increasing by 0. 51 per cent when the united kingdom was rich, the french cac 40 by 0. 68 per cent and the german dax 30 by 0. 94 per cent. But behind it, it seems to be a defensive block, with industry, utilities, consumption blues as the choice for financial avoidance, and resource and technology units still falling。
In retrospect, every market collapse is a risk education — any rise from the basics will eventually return to value, and any crowded funding will eventually trigger a step。
