Dow Jones drops 800 points, IBM falls over 13%, silver futures rise over 7%, and over 160,000 cryptocurrency traders get liquidated

On Monday (February 23), U.S. stocks plunged across the board in the late night session, with all three major indices falling more than 1%, including the Dow dropping over 821 points.

Most large tech stocks declined, with IBM plunging over 13%, the largest single-day drop since 2000; Microsoft and Netflix fell over 3%, while Tesla, Amazon, and Meta dropped more than 2%.

Chip stocks mostly declined, with Marvell Technology down over 2%, and Skyworks Solutions, Qualcomm, and Micron Technology falling more than 1%.

Bank stocks all declined, with Morgan Stanley dropping nearly 5%, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo falling about 4%, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America dropping over 3%. Additionally, Visa fell over 4%, the largest single-day decline since June last year; Mastercard dropped over 5%, the biggest since April last year.

Several popular Chinese concept stocks declined, with Kingsoft Cloud falling nearly 9%, BOSS Zhipin down over 6%, and China Internet Plus falling more than 5%. Tiger Securities, Vipshop, and GDS Holdings dropped over 4%. On the gain side, Tuya Smart and NIO rose over 4%, and Atlas Solar Technologies increased over 3%.

Outside of the U.S., major European stock indices mostly declined as well, with Germany’s DAX 30 down over 1%.

Gold and silver prices surged globally. Spot gold broke through $5,220, up 2.4%, and COMEX gold futures rose 3.3%; spot silver increased nearly 4%, and COMEX silver futures jumped over 7%, both exceeding $88 per ounce.

International crude oil futures edged lower. WTI April futures declined 0.26%, and Brent April futures fell about 0.4%.

Cryptocurrencies collectively declined. As of 6:43 Beijing time, Bitcoin dropped below $65,000 per coin, with major coins like Ethereum, SOL, and HYPE falling over 4%. Over 164,000 traders worldwide were liquidated.

On the geopolitical front, tensions in the Middle East are escalating.

According to CCTV News, on February 23, two informed sources revealed that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley has been advising President Trump and senior officials that taking military action against Iran could pose significant risks, especially the possibility of prolonged conflict.

Xinhua News Agency reported that U.S. President Trump posted on social media on the 23rd denying reports from U.S. media claiming that Chairman Milley opposed military strikes on Iran. Trump stated that there are no sources backing the media’s claim that Milley “opposes war with Iran.”

Xinhua also reported that Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said at a weekly press conference in Tehran on the 23rd that any attack on Iran would be considered an act of aggression and would bear corresponding consequences.

According to CCTV News, 19 foreign ministers issued a joint statement condemning the Israeli Security Cabinet’s approval of a series of decisions that significantly alter policies in the West Bank, increase control over the West Bank, and accelerate the expansion of Jewish settlements.