Metals Record Historic Slide as US Equities Grind – Market wrap for the North American session - October 21

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Log in to today's North American session Market wrap for October 21

US stock markets closed with mixed results on Tuesday, despite a flow of positive corporate earnings.

The Dow Jones index finished with a gain, driven by solid earnings from industrial companies like General Motors, GE Aerospace, and 3M. However, the S&P 500 index ended the day mostly unchanged, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq closed slightly lower due to weakness in major growth and microchip stocks.

General Motors GM.N lifted its forecast and tempered its anticipated tariff hit. The automaker's shares jumped 14.9%.

Coca-ColaKO.N shares gained 4.1% after solid consumer demand drove its better-than-expected results, while diversified manufacturer 3M MMM.N advanced 7.7% after hiking its full-year forecast, bolstered by its focus on higher margin products and cost controls.

After the market closed, Netflix stock dropped 5.8% in after-hours trading because the streaming company announced profits that were lower than analysts had expected.

Overall, the third-quarter earnings season has started well, with 87% of reporting S&P 500 companies beating Wall Street profit forecasts. Yet, because stock prices are already near record highs and are valued expensively, investors are highly selective.

Read More:

• Gold (XAU/USD) Price Down 5.7%, Biggest Daily Drop Since 2020. What Next for Gold Prices?
• Tesla (TSLA) Q3 2025 Earnings Preview: Why Record Deliveries Still Mean a Profit Margin Squeeze
• USD/CAD Price Outlook: Consolidation Above Key 1.4000 Handle. What Next for the Loonie?

Cross-Assets Daily Performance

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Cross-Asset Daily Performance, October 21, 2025 – Source: TradingView

A massive selloff occurred in precious metals, with gold and silver experiencing their sharpest one-day price drop in years, as investors worried that the recent record rally was unsustainable.

This sharp decline was caused by several converging factors such as profit taking, easing haven-demand and US Dollar strength.

As investors moved money back to safer, non-commodity assets, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 3.96%. The cryptocurrency Bitcoin also saw its value fluctuate during this period of renewed risk aversion.

A picture of today's performance for major currencies

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Currency Performance, October 21 – Source: OANDA Labs

The US dollar gained strength on Tuesday, hitting a six-day high, as the Japanese yen weakened significantly following its change in political leadership.

he yen slid by 0.76% against the dollar, reaching its lowest level since October 14th. This decline was driven by the election of the pro-stimulus Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, as investors expect her government to prioritize high spending and loose monetary policy, which is negative for the currency. The yen also fell against the euro and the British pound.

The US dollar index rose 0.312% because of the yen’s weakness. The euro fell slightly by 0.3% against the stronger dollar, despite recent easing of political tensions in France.

The British pound (sterling) was down against the dollar, even though new data showed that the UK's government borrowing for the first half of the financial year was the highest since the pandemic. Investors believe this bad news is already factored into the price, expecting a tough budget next month.

A look at Economic data releasing through tonight and tomorrow's session

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For all market-moving economic releases and events, see the MarketPulse Economic Calendar.

The Asian session will be a quiet one in terms of data releases.

We do have some medium impact data releases from Japan with import and export numbers being released.

Attention will be on the European session tomorrow where we will get UK CPI and PPI data. This will be followed by speeches from ECB policymaker De Guindos and President Christine Lagarde.

The US session remains light with earnings releases and a few Fed policymakers speaking.

Tesla will be the main earnings release after the market close tomorrow and could have implications for Nasdaq 100 as well.

Safe Trades!

Follow Zain on Twitter/X for Additional Market News and Insights @zvawda

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