Dow falls 250 points as stocks slip, gold hits fresh high

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 250 points as Wall Street began the week on a cautious note, with a similar outlook seeing cryptocurrencies crash as gold soared to a new high.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 250 points, or 0.4%, and the S&P 500 opened 0.2% lower. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite hovered nearly 0.1% down, with the pullback coming ahead of this week’s key economic data release on personal consumption expenditures.

After the Federal Reserve cut its policy rate by 25 basis points this September, investors will eye the PCE price index for further hints on potential rate cuts in 2025. The PCE report is due Friday, and Wall Street will be keen for hints on the U.S. economy that the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge offers. 

Cryptocurrencies also dropped amid the overall retreat across equities, with Bitcoin (BTC) retesting the $112,000 area. Investors in the cryptocurrency market witnessed heavy long liquidations, with over $1.6 billion in bullish bets wiped out. About $93 million in bearish bets were also “rekt” within the past 24 hours.

Gold rises to new high

While stocks and crypto showed overall weakness to start the new week, gold strengthened. Gold jumped to a new all-time high as it surpassed $3,756, with flight to safe-haven assets growing amid risk-off sentiment.

The precious metal’s uptick comes as investors increasingly anticipate the Federal Reserve’s move for two interest rate cuts before the end of the year.

TikTok deal

Other developments to watch in the crypto market is a potential key TikTok deal.

On Monday, U.S. officials said Oracle will now retrain the U.S. version of the TikTok algorithm. Oracle will partner with the U.S. government on this initiative, a move that comes amid bullish projections of a U.S.-China trade deal.