Silver price has crashed into a correction as the recent bull run hits a wall and as investors book profits. After peaking at $54.45 in October, XAG has plunged by 12.10% to the current $47.90. This article explores some of the top potential catalysts for the silver price in the near term.

Silver price to react to US consumer inflation report 

The first major catalyst for the silver price is the upcoming US consumer inflation data, which comes out later today. 

Economists expect the report to show that the headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose from 2.9% in August to 3.1%in September as firms adjusted their prices to deal with Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Core inflation, which excludes the volatile food and energy prices, is expected to move from 3.1% in August to 3.2%. 

Higher inflation numbers than expected will be bearish for silver as it will put the Federal Reserve between a rock and a hard place. While officials have hinted of cuts, the pace of reduction will be difficult if inflation is in a strong uptrend.

A lower inflation figure than expected, on the other hand, will point to more cuts now that the labor market is struggling. A report released by ADP showed that the economy lost 36,000 jobs in September this year.

Flash PMI numbers 

The other main catalyst for the silver price is the flash manufacturing PMI from the United States and other key countries.

A report from the European Union and the UK showed that the manufacturing activity in the regions did well in October. The EU manufacturing PMI rose from 49.8 in September to 50 in October, while in the UK, it moved from 46.2 to 49.6.

Economists expect the report from the US to show the PMI rose in the same period. It will come in at 52.1 from the previous 52. 

These numbers are important because silver has a dual role. While it is widely seen as a precious metal, silver is also an industrial metal that does well when the manufacturing sector is thriving.

US and China talks 

The other important catalyst for the silver price will come out on Thursday next week when Donald Trump and Xi Jinping meet at the sidelines of the APEC meeting in South Korea.

These talks will be aimed at solving the ongoing trade issues that have intensified in the past few weeks. China has hinted that it may reduce the amount of rare earth materials it ships to the US and other countries.

The two sides have also threatened to implement tariffs on each other. Therefore, a trade deal between the two countries will be good for silver as it will likely lead to more demand.

However, the deal may also be bearish as it will remove the safe-haven appeal that has pushed gold to the highest level on record. Silver often tracks the performance of gold as they are both precious metals.

Federal Reserve interest rate decision 

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve will conclude its two-day meeting on Wednesday next week and deliver its interest rate decision.

Officials, including Jerome Powell, have hinted that the bank will cut interest rates by 0.25% in this meeting as they did in September.

The rate cut will largely depend on the upcoming US consumer inflation data, which will show the extent of Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Silver ETF inflows 

The other key catalyst for silver price is the activity in Wall Street. Data shows that the popular iShares Silver ETF (SLV) has had over $1.68 billion in inflows this year, bringing its total assets to over $23 billion.

Most recently, it had inflows in the last three consecutive weeks, with its inflows rising to over $191 million last week. Continued inflows will lead to more demand, which may boost its performance.

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Gold price has pulled back in the past few days, moving from the year-to-date high of $4,370 on October 17 to the current $4,072. It has dropped by 6.85% from as investors book profits. So, what next for gold ahead of key events?

Gold falls ahead of the US inflation data

Gold has dropped sharply as the recent bull run took a breather after soaring by almost 70% from its January lows. This pullback happened as investors took a breather and as some of the recent tensions faded. 

One of the main risks that has faded is on trade between the US and China. The White House confirmed that Donald Trump and Xi Jinping will meet at the APEC meeting in South Korea next week. 

A successful meeting will be a good thing for the market as it will eliminate one of the main headwinds facing the US economy. However, such a deal would be, to some extent, bearish for gold. 

The next key catalyst for the gold price will be the upcoming US inflation data. Economists polled by Reuters expect the numbers to show that the headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose to 3.1% in September, the highest level since June last year.

Core inflation, which excludes the volatile food and energy, is expected to move up slightly to 3.2%. Gold price will likely drop further if the inflation report is higher than expected. 

Such a move will mean that the Federal Reserve may not cut interest rates as aggressively as expected. 

Federal Reserve interest rates

The other major catalysts for gold will be next week’s Federal Reserve decision. Economists expect the bank to cut rates because of the labor market, which has continued to deteriorate in the past few months.

The last official jobs report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) showed that the economy created just 22,000 jobs in August. Another more recent report revealed that the private sector shed 36,000 jobs in September. 

The other key catalyst for the gold price is the ongoing surge in US public debt. Data shows that the debt crossed the $38 trillion mark this week. This surging debt, together with US policies, explains why foreign central banks have continued to boost their gold reserves.

Analysts are still bullish on gold this year. Goldman Sachs analysts boosted their forecast to $4,500, while those at Bank of America and JPMorgan boosted their target to $4,800 and $4,200.

Gold price technical analysis 

The daily chart shows that gold price has pulled back in the past few days. It dropped from a high of $4,370 to the current $4,070. 

Gold has remained above all moving averages. While this is a bullish aspect, there is a risk that it may drop because of mean reversion. If this happens, it will likely drop to the 50-day moving average at $3,830 and then bounce back. In the long term, gold will bounce back and rebound to $4,500.

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A crypto crash is happening today, with Bitcoin falling to $108,000 and top altcoins like Solana, Cardano, Pepe, and Shiba Inu being deeply in the red. This article explores some of the top reasons contributing to the ongoing crypto market crash and what to expect.

Crypto crash happened amid inflation concerns 

One reason for the ongoing crypto crash is the upcoming US Consumer Price Index (CPI) data, which will come out on Friday this week. 

These numbers are expected to show that the US inflation remained high in September as companies continued to account for Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) figure is expected to come in at 3.1%, up from the previous 2.9%. If accurate, this figure will confirm that the country’s inflation remains a challenge.

Worse, there are signs that inflation will continue rising as the crude oil price jumped after signs of a truce between the US and India emerged. One part of the deal is that India will largely stop buying Russian oil in exchange for tariff relief from the US. India will also commit to buying more US oil this year.

Brent, the global benchmark, rose by 3% and hit the important resistance level at $64, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) jumped to $62 after the US blacklisted Rosneft and Lukoil, two of the biggest oil companies in the country. Trump also plans to talk to Xi Jinping about China’s crude oil imports.

A high inflation figure will make it harder for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates in the coming meetings. Cryptocurrencies normally do well when the Fed is cutting rates.

Liquidations tantrum 

The other main reason why the crypto market crash is happening is that traders are going through a liquidation tantrum. This is a response to the huge $20 billion liquidation that happened on October 11 this year. 

The liquidation affected more than 1.6 million people who saw their accounts wiped out. Historically, crypto prices normally remain on edge after such a big liquidation event, as investors remain in the sidelines.

A good example of this is the fact that the volume in the futures and spot market has tumbled. CoinGlass data shows that the 24-hour volume plunged by 17.6% to $315 billion, while the open interest fell to $147 billion. 

The liquidation tantrum will likely remain in place until Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies rebound and attract Fear of Missing Out (FOMO).

Bitcoin whale activity

The crypto market is also going down is of an obscure Bitcoin whale who has made millions shorting Bitcoin. This whale made over $200 million in his recent Bitcoin short trade. 

He has now opened a new short trade worth over $234 million through Hyperliquid. His trades are being scrutinized because the last one was opened 30 minutes before Donald Trump made his tariff announcement. As such, there are rumors that this whale is associated with Donald Trump.

BTC price has formed a risky pattern

The crypto crash is also happening because, as the chart above shows, the Bitcoin price has formed the risky double-top pattern at $124,373 and is now at the neckline. 

It is also about to form a death cross pattern, which happens when the 50-day and 200-day Weighted Moving Averages (WMA) cross each other. These patterns point to more Bitcoin price crash, pointing to more downside in the near term. 

A Bitcoin price crash will be highly bearish for the broader crypto market. It is also coming as Bitcoin ETF outflows rise. 

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Renault share price has remained in a tight range in the past few months. This could change as investors buy the dip after the recent financial results, which showed that its business was doing well. It was trading at €35.25, up by 14.4% from its lowest point this year.

Renault earnings review

Renault, one of the biggest automakers in France, is doing well in a highly difficult environment. Results released today, Oct. 23, showed that its third-quarter revenue rose by 6.8% in the third quarter. 

Renault made over €11.4 billion in the quarter as brands like Dacia Bigster continued doing well. Its revenue also jumped because of its financial service, which rose by 18% to €1.6 billion. Analysts polled by Reuters expect the revenue to move to €11.5 billion. 

In the statement, the company said that its European passenger car sales rose by 10.9%. It strong sales were spread across the board, with Renault rising by 5.5% and Dacia and Alpine rising by 16.1% and 306%.

READ MORE: Renault CEO Luca de Meo’s exit clouds growth plans, sparks investor uncertainty

Renault has sold over 1.16 million vehicles in the first nine months of the year, a 3.8% increase from the same period last year. It sold 361,575 vehicles in the third quarter. In a statement, Duncan Minto, the CFO said:

“We confirm our full-year guidance, targeting a Group operating margin around 6.5% and free cash flow between €1.0bn and €1.5bn. Also, we are actively shaping our next mid-term plan, designed to accelerate the Group’s transformation and unlock future opportunities.” 

Renault now expects that it operating margin will be about 6.5%, while its free cash flow will be between 1 billion and 1.5 billion euros, respectively

Major challenges remain

Renault is still going through major challenges as signs show that demand for vehicles in Europe is slowing. At the same time, while it is not exposed directly to the US, the ongoing trade war with China could have an impact on its operation. 

One way that this will happen is in China’s strategy to limit the supply of rare earth materials. Limits to these exports would impact its operations as China has a major market share in the industry.

The other major challenge is that cheaper Chinese vehicles by companies like Xpeng, BYD, and Li Auto are starting to flood the market. This growth may hurt Renault and other European companies like Volkswagen and BMW. 

The other major challenge is that Renault is not a cheap company as it trades at a forward multiple of 19.49. This is a higher multiple than other companies like Volkswagen and BMW.

Renault share price technical analysis

Renault stock price chart | Source: TradingView

The daily chart shows that the Renault stock price formed a double-top pattern at €49.5 and a neckline at €38.50, its lowest swing in April. It then plunged on July 15 after the company published its financial results and issued a profit warning. 

The stock then formed an island reversal pattern, which is a popular reversal sign. Therefore, the stock will likely continue rising as bulls target the key resistance point at €38.50, its lowest level in April and June. This target is about 10% above the current level. A drop below the support at €32.5 will invalidate the bullish view.

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Bitcoin price remained under pressure this week as investors remained in the sidelines as global risks rose. BTC dropped to $108,600, down by 14% from its highest point this year. This article explores some of the top reasons why the BTC price may drop further in the near term.

Bitcoin price is about to form a death cross

The daily timeframe chart shows that the coin has been in a strong bearish downtrend in the past few months. It has plunged from the year-to-date high of $126,300 to the current $108,600. 

A closer look shows that it is about to form a death cross pattern as the spread between the 50-day and 200-day Weighted Moving Averages (EMA) has continued to narrow in the past few days. This is a sign that the coin is about to form a death cross, which often leads to more downside. 

Bitcoin price has also formed a double-top pattern at $124,375 and a neckline at $108,357, its lowest level in June. This double-top pattern’s depth is about 12.2%. Measuring the same distance from the neckline goves it a target of $95,000, which coincides with the extreme oversold level of the Murrey Math Lines tool. 

Bitcoin price is also in the process of forming a bearish pennant pattern, which is made up of a vertical line and a symmetrical triangle pattern. 

BTC price has formed a rising wedge and divergence

The other main reason why the Bitcoin price may crash further is that numerous bearish patterns have formed on the weekly chart. 

Bitcoin has formed a rising wedge pattern, which happens when there are two rising and converging trendlines. The two lines are about to converge, which may lead to a strong bearish breakout. 

At the same time, top oscillators show that the coin has more downside as it has formed a bearish divergence pattern. The True Strength Index (TSI) has continued moving downwards as Bitcoin has jumped. 

Other oscillators have also continued forming a bearish divergence pattern. This includes popular indicators like the Percentage Price Oscillator (PPO) and the Relative Strength Index (RSI).

These patterns point to more downside in the near term. The price target is established by first measuring the distance of the widest part and then the same one from the breakout point. This distance is about 48%, meaning that the coin may crash below $60,000 in the coming months. 

Crypto Fear and Greed Index is falling

The other key catalyst for the Bitcoin price crash is that there is a sense of fear happening in the crypto industry. Data shows that the Crypto Fear and Greed Index has tumbled to the fear zone of 28. It has been in a major downtrend after peaking at the greed zone of 63 in May this year. 

The CNN Money Fear and Greed Index has moved to the fear zone of 26. Further downside will have it move to the extreme fear zone of 25. 

Most of the gauges, including the stock price breadth, put and call options, safe haven demand, and junk bond demand have all moved to the extreme fear zone.

This fear explains why investors have been reluctant to invest in Bitcoin ETFs. These funds had a net outflow of $1.28 billion last week. While they have gained $335 million so far this week, they have remained lower than their historical standards.

Bitcoin price may also continue falling as US inflation remains at an elevated level. Higher inflation may prevent the Fed from cutting rates aggressively. 

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Lloyds share price held steady today, Oct. 23, as the market reacted to the latest earnings, which showed that the company continued doing well this year. LLOY was trading at 84.6p, up by about 70% above the lowest level this year. 

Lloyds Bank posted strong earnings

Lloyds, one of the biggest banks in the UK, published strong financial results even as the economy remains in stagflation. Its results showed that the statutory profit dropped to £3.3 billion in the third quarter from £3.8 billion in the same period last year. 

The profit dropped because the company took a £800 million charge relating to the motor insurance compensation, which come after the Supreme Court ruling a few months ago. The total provision now stands at over £1.950 billion.

READ MORE: Here’s why the Barclays share price jumped after Q3 earnings

Lloyds Bank’s underlying net interest income rose by 6% to £10.1 billion in the first nine months of the year, giving it a net interest margin of 3.04%.

The company also boosted its forward guidance, estimating that the underlying net interest income will be £13.6 billion, while the Return on Tangible Equity (RoTE) will be 12%.

These results came a few days after the management announced the full buyout of Schroders Personal Wealth, which was previously operated as a joint venture. The full acquisition brought in about £17 billion in assets under management (AUM) and 60,000 clients. It will now be rebranded as Lloyds Wealth.

Lloyds Bank’s growth happened as the company’s lending and deposits remained steady. Its lending jumped to £477 billion in the last quarter, while its deposits rose to £496 billion. In a statement, Charlie Nunn, the CEO said:

“Our strategic progress combined with this financial performance gives us confidence in our performance for the year and our 2026 guidance.”

Lloyds Bank believes the UK economy will grow by just 1% in the coming year and that the unemployment rate will continue rising gradually. 

The company may start to feel the impact of the Bank of England’s interest rate cuts. However, the company has a £244 billion structural hedge in place, which is helping it boost its margins. A Bloomberg analyst said:

“With a 13.8% CET1 ratio and reiterated plans to run it down to 13% next year, this year’s buyback could surpass the £1.8 billion already embedded in 2025 expectations.”

The other main risk is that the UK is bracing for a challenging annual budget on November 26 as Chancellor Rachel Reeves struggles to fill a multi-billion-pound hole. One of the proposals to bridge this gap is to launch a windfall tax on the financial services industry that has boomed in the past few months.

READ MORE: NatWest share price forecast ahead of Q3 earnings: buy or sell?

Lloyds share price technical analysis 

The daily timeframe chart shows that the Lloyds Bank share price has been in a strong uptrend in the past few months and is now hovering near its highest level this year.

The stock remains above the 50-day and 100-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMA). It also remains above the lower side of the ascending channel  

Top oscillators like the Relative Strength Index and the MACD have continued rising in the past few months. Therefore, the stock will likely continue rising as bulls target the next key resistance level at 90p.

READ MORE: Unicredit share price analysis as earnings growth continues

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The IBM stock price suffered a harsh reversal on Thursday after the company published mixed financial results. It was trading at $268 in the premarket, down from Wednesday’s closing price of $287. This price is about 11% below the year-to-date high, meaning that it has now moved into a technical correction.

IBM software revenue disappoints

IBM, commonly known as the Big Blue, published mixed financial results on Wednesday that demonstrated that its business was doing relatively well.

Its revenue came in at $16.3 billion, up by 9% from what it made in the same period last year.  This growth was driven by the infrastructure segment whose revenue rose by 17%. It was followed by the software and consulting segments, whose revenue grew by 10% and 3%, respectively.

IBM’s software revenue, which includes its AI initiatives, was mostly driven by a 24% increase in automation and 14% jump in its hybrid cloud business. The only laggard in this segment was its transaction processing, whose revenue fell by 1%.

READ MORE: IBM stock price is rising: Is the Big Blue a good buy today?

IBM’s consulting business made $5.3 billion in revenue, while its infrastructure rose by 17% to $3.6 billion. 

To a large extent, there are signs that the company is lagging behind its peers in the AI industry since it is also involved in the cloud computing industry. It has only made $9.5 billion in GenAI revenue since its inception.

Ideally, one would expect a company like IBM that is already a major player in the cloud computing industry to become a big player in the AI data center segment that is making other firms like Microsoft, CoreWeave, and Nebius billions of dollars. Yet, IBM has not been selected by any major company to offer these services.

The company has also not created any mainstream AI models as its competitors like Microsoft and xAI have done recently. This is notable since the company spent billions of dollars building Watson, a large data and AI platform that failed to produce the expected results.

The company’s Watsonx platform focuses primarily on enterprise customers, giving them a platform to train, tune, and deploy models. It recently partnered with Anthropic to infuse Claude into IBM products.

READ MORE: ​​ Forget pure plays, IBM stock may be the new quantum computing king

IBM has largely lost the AI race the same way it dif with the cloud, where it has a 2% market share, much lower than other companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Alibaba, Oracle, and Salesforce.

On the positive side, the company has expanded its pre-tax margins in the last nine consecutive quarters. Also, the company has a solid balance sheet with over $14.9 billion in cash and $63 billion in debt. It has returned about $4.7 billion to shareholders through dividends this year.

IBM stock price technical analysis 

IBM stock price chart | Source: TradingView

The daily timeframe chart shows that the IBM stock price has been in a strong uptrend in the past few weeks, moving from a low of $233 in August to the current $287.

It has moved between the ascending channel that started forming in 2024. The stock has also remained above the 50-day and 100-day Exponential Moving Averages. 

It plunged after slightly below the 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) after it published its financial results.

Therefore, the most likely scenario is where the IBM stock remains under pressure for a while and then resumes the uptrend.

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Salesforce stock price remains in a deep bear market after plunging by over 30% from its highest point this year. CRM was trading at $255, which has pushed its market capitalization from over $353 billion in December last year to $242 billion today.

Salesforce stock price technical analysis

The daily timeframe chart shows that the CRM stock price formed a double-top pattern at $365 and a neckline at $310, its lowest point in January. 

Salesforce then tumbled and reached a low of $226, where it formed a double-bottom pattern with a neckline at $295. A double-bottom is a highly common bullish reversal pattern. 

The stock remains below the 200-day Exponential Moving Average, a sign that bears are in control. Also, it has formed a bearish flag pattern, which is made up of a vertical line and a rectangle channel. 

On the positive side, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) has formed a bullish reversal pattern. This pattern happened as it moved from below 30 to 58 today. 

The MACD indicator also formed a bullish divergence, with the two lines crossing the zero line. Therefore, the Salesforce stock price forecast is neutral with a bearish bias. 

A prolonged downtrend will be confirmed if the stock drops below the key support level at $226. A move below that level wll invalidate the double-bottom pattern and point to more downside. 

Read more: Salesforce stock soars over 6% today: here’s why analysts are bullish

On the other hand, moving above the 200-day EMA at $263 will point to more gains, potentially to the key resistance level at $294, its highest level in May.

Why CRM stock is struggling in this AI boom 

Salesforce, a top company in the software industry, has pivoted its business to the artificial intelligence industry, where it is building AI agents to help companies automate key procedures. 

It has done that by launching Agentforce, a platform that makes it easy for companies to build these agents. It is now used by 6,000 paid companies, including popular brands like Dell, Pandora, Anthropic, and Williams-Sonoma.

The most recent results showed that Salesforce revenue rose by 10% in the second quarter to $10.2 billion, with its subscription revenue hitting $9.7 billion.

All parts of Salesforce business grew during the quarter, with the Platform and other, which includes Slack, being the best performer with a 16% annual growth rate. Integration and analytics grew by 12%, while sales and service rose by 8%.

Salesforce also boosted its forward guidance as it now expects to make between $41.] billion and $41.3 billion in revenue this year, representing an annual growth rate of between 8.5% and 9%.

The company also expects that the operating cash flow and free cash flow will grow by between 12% and 13%.

Therefore, while Salesforce is doing well, the stock has underperformed its peers because AI has not increased its revenue dramatically so far.

Also, the drop is because of the valuation reset. Data shows that the company is not as overvalued as it was a few months ago. Its forward price-to-earnings ratio has moved to 34.3, which is in line with that of the software industry.

The company’s rule-of-40 multiple is also above 40 when you use the levered free cash flow margin. In this case, it has a rule-of-40 figure of 45. 

Therefore, fundamentals suggest that the stock may rebound as the company evolves from being a growth stock to a value one.

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The Argentine peso continued its freefall as traders focused on the upcoming elections in the country and interventions by Donald Trump and his administration. 

The USD/ARS exchange rate was trading at 1,500 for the first time ever. It has now jumped by 45% this year making the peso the worst-performing currency.

Argentina election and US bailout 

The USD/ARS pair has surged in the past few days even as the US government continued its interventions. Data shows that the US Treasury sold dollars through Banco Santander, although the full amount was not made public.

The US has also intervened in other ways, including signing a $20 billion currency swap line and is in talks with American banks to lend a similar amount, a move that many banks are resisting. In a statement, Scott Bessent, the Treasury Secretary, said:

“Argentina now has the opportunity to embrace economic freedom, and our stabilization agreement is a bridge to a better economic future for Argentina, not a bailout.”

The Argentine peso has crashed despite these efforts for three main reasons. First, there is a likelihood that Milei’s party will lose in the upcoming mid-term elections, as it did in a recent one in Buenos Aires. Trump is expected to stop all aid if the party loses, while Milei’s reforms will face heightened scrutiny.

Second, analysts believe that the announced bailout will not be enough as the country needs more dollars in the economy. Analysts believe that the ideal figure should be north of $60 billion.

READ MORE: Explaining Argentina’s market crash and the hard path ahead for its economy

Third, Donald Trump is facing substantial pressure from lawmakers for the bailout. Some of his closest allies, like Marjory Taylor Green, have blasted the measure, especially now that the government shutdown is continuing.