Gold recorded its largest-ever single-day swing in market capitalisation, with total value fluctuating by about $5.5 trillion over the course of a single trading session, according to market commentary
platform The Kobeissi Letter.
The sharp moves came as prices of major commodities such as gold and silver crashed before staging a swift recovery within 6.5 hours, highlighting intense intraday volatility across global markets.
In a post on X, The Kobeissi Letter said, “This is absolutely insane.” It highlighted the speed and scale of the moves. Between 9:30 am ET and 10:25 am ET on Thursday, gold shed nearly $3.2 trillion in market capitalisation, equivalent to losses of about $58 billion per minute.
This is absolutely insane:
Gold just posted its largest daily swing in market cap in history, at $5.5 TRILLION.
Between 9:30 AM ET and 10:25 AM ET, gold lost -$3.2 trillion in market cap, or -$58 billion PER MINUTE.
Then, between 10:25 AM ET and 4:00 PM ET, gold added back… pic.twitter.com/9BmnY9g6Ap
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) January 29, 2026
The sell-off was followed by a sharp rebound. From 10:25 am ET to 4:00 pm ET, gold regained around $2.3 trillion in market value, which was one of the wildest-ever days for the yellow metal.
The Kobeissi Letter said the market-cap swing in gold over just 6.5 hours was more than three times the movement seen in Bitcoin over a comparable period, which was about $850 billion per hour.
“We are witnessing one of the most historic trading opportunities of all time,” the post said, adding that gold’s volatility has now climbed above levels seen during the 2008 global financial crisis.
The extreme price action unfolded amid heightened uncertainty in global markets, with shifting expectations around monetary policy, currency movements and investor positioning amplifying swings across asset classes. Analysts say such sharp moves in gold—traditionally viewed as a safe-haven asset—reflect a combination of heavy speculative activity and rapid changes in macroeconomic sentiment.
According to a report by BullionVault, gold and silver fell sharply from fresh record highs on Thursday. Gold dropped nearly $500 per ounce to around $5,100, while silver plunged 11.9%, weighed down by a broader sell-off in US technology and AI-linked stocks.
The report noted that gold had peaked just $5 below $5,600 per ounce, and the subsequent 8.7% fall erased nearly $3.4 trillion from the estimated value of all gold above ground. Silver also saw extreme moves, rising above $121 per troy ounce, marking a gain of over 68% in January, its strongest monthly performance outside December 1979, before retreating to around $107.
The decline in precious metals coincided with pressure on technology stocks, with cloud-computing major Oracle falling 5.4% and chipmaker Nvidia slipping 2.7% at the open, amid concerns of a potential AI-led market correction.
In India, similar volatility was visible on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX). Gold prices dropped nearly 12% to an intraday low of Rs 1,57,808 per 10 grams (24 karat) after touching a high of Rs 1,80,779, before recovering to around Rs 1,69,600, indicating strong buying interest at lower levels.
(With inputs from agencies)
