Highlights of the morning: Fed kept rates on hold, gold and silver hit records

Gold and silver are hitting all-time highs amid geopolitical risks, debt and liquidity flow. The Fed is taking a pause in rate cuts, recognizing stronger economic growth and persistent inflation around 3%. On these and other topics - in our review of key events for the morning of January 29.

Gold continued its sharp growth and exceeded $5500 per ounce, renewing the historical maximum, silver for the first time rose above $117, CNBC reports. Since the beginning of the year, silver has risen in price by more than 145%, the growth covered the whole sector of precious metals and affected base metals.

Analysts attribute the rally to the demand for protective assets amid geopolitical risks, growth of government debt and uncertainty about interest rates and currencies. Experts note that the market reacts less and less to the fundamental balance of supply and demand, and price dynamics is determined by volatile liquidity flows, due to which movements become sharp and poorly predictable.

The U.S. Federal Reserve paused its rate-cutting cycle, keeping its key rate in the 3.5-3.75 percent range after three consecutive cuts, CNBC reports. The regulator raised its assessment of economic growth and eased concerns about the labor market, noting that inflation remains elevated. The language about the higher risks of weaker employment relative to inflation disappeared from the statement, indicating the Fed's willingness to take a pause in policy easing at least in the near term, the channel said.

The decision came amid rising government bond yields and a lack of clear signals on next steps, with markets expecting the next rate change no earlier than June. Two members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted against the pause, favoring another cut, while tensions around the Fed's independence are rising due to pressure from US President Donald Trump's administration and an investigation into the regulator's leadership.

Meta reported results for the fourth quarter of 2025 better than analysts' expectations: earnings per share amounted to $8.88 on revenue of $59.9 billion, Yahoo Finance writes. Against this background, the company's shares rose by almost 10%. At the same time, Meta presented a forecast for capital expenditures for 2026 in the range of $115-135 billion against $72.2 billion in 2025, emphasizing the large-scale expansion of investments in AI infrastructure.

The Reality Labs division brought the company $955 million in revenue but recorded a loss of about $6 billion. The company is aggressively ramping up spending on AI, including deals and hiring key talent, but is facing delays in developing new models and is considering a shift away from an open AI strategy. Against the backdrop of increasing competition from Google, Amazon and Microsoft, the market is increasingly perceiving Meta's actions as an attempt to catch up with the leaders in the new phase of the AI race, the publication points out.

Tesla stops producing Model S and Model X - two models that started the company's success, and plans to use the production facilities to assemble humanoid robots, writes CNN. Elon Musk announced this on a reporting call, effectively making it clear that the sale of electric cars is no longer a priority for Tesla. The company is betting on unmanned technologies, including Cybercab robotaxis, the sales of which, according to Musk's forecast, in the future may exceed the volume of all other Tesla models, the channel notes.

The decision comes amid deteriorating financial performance of the company: Tesla's adjusted earnings at the end of 2025 fell by 16%, net income plummeted by 61% for the quarter and 46% for the year, which corresponds to a drop of about $3.3 billion. The company recorded a record annual decline in sales and lost its status as the largest electric car manufacturer in the world, ceding it to China's BYD. At the same time, Tesla disclosed for the first time a $2 billion investment in xAI, Musk's AI company, underscoring the automaker's strategic pivot away from AI and robotics.

- Japan's broad Topix index was up 0.37%, with the Nikkei 225 adding 0.32% in Jan. 29 trading.

- Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up 0.74%. Mainland China's CSI 300 index was up 0.21%.

- In South Korea, the Kospi index was up 1.01% and the Kosdaq was up 2.02%.

- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was little changed.

- S&P 500 futures were up 0.16%, Nasdaq Composite futures were up 0.34% and Dow Jones Industrial Average exchange-traded contracts were little changed.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor