Evening digest: Bitcoin reclaims $90K, chip stocks surge, Amazon layoffs

Risk appetite roared back into markets as investors piled into chips, hard assets, and crypto on a potent mix of earnings, policy signals, and currency chaos.

Semiconductor stocks ripped higher on ASML’s order shock and SK Hynix’s record profits, while Big Tech slashed jobs to fund an AI arms race.

A collapsing dollar sent gold and bitcoin to fresh highs, underscoring how rapidly capital is fleeing fiat certainty for growth and hard-asset hedges.

Chip stocks surge on ASML smash, SK Hynix record profit

The semiconductor sector exploded on Wednesday on a perfect storm of catalysts as ASML posted record €13.2 billion quarterly orders, more than double estimates, while SK Hynix delivered record profit, and Beijing approved sales of Nvidia's H200 to major Chinese firms.

The VanEck Semiconductor ETF jumped 3% in premarket. ASML surged 7.5%, SK Hynix +5%, Nvidia +1.6% on China approval.

The three-layer win: AI capex stays hyperdrive; memory chip shortage persists, enriching SK Hynix; ASML's EUV lithography tools now indispensable.

But the fine print matters; China approving H200 for ByteDance and Alibaba is Beijing's middle finger to Washington tariff threats, signaling tech decoupling.

ASML warned that this is the last time it reports quarterly bookings; watch gross margins compress as supply normalizes. The rally masks warning signs.

Amazon axes 16,000 in latest mass cut

Amazon announced its second hammer-blow in three months Wednesday: 16,000 corporate workers terminated, bringing total cuts to 30,000, roughly 10% of its 350,000-person tech workforce, all in pursuit of CEO Andy Jassy's obsession: operating like the "world's largest startup."

The cover story: "removing bureaucracy" and "increasing ownership."

The reality: freed-up capital for $125 billion in 2026 data center capex to dominate AI. Jassy flatly told investors in October that this isn't financially driven, it's culture.

But his June memo revealed the truth: "We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs being done today."

SVP Beth Galetti insisted this isn't a quarterly purge pattern, but hedged: teams will continue making "adjustments as appropriate." Translation: more cuts coming.

Gold blasts past $5,300 record

Gold surged to a record $5,324 Wednesday, shattering the $5,300 barrier for the first time as the dollar collapsed to four-year lows and Trump essentially greenlit currency weakness.

Spot gold rose 1.7% to $5,278 before the session closed. Silver? Unhinged. The white metal rocketed 60% year-to-date, touching $117.69, crushing the complex expectations.

The catalyst is stark: Trump's casualness about dollar devaluation ("the value is great," he said) triggered panic selling of greenbacks, making dollar-denominated gold cheaper for international buyers while signaling Washington won't defend the currency.

US consumer confidence plunged to an 11-year low. Central banks are vacuuming gold. Deutsche Bank projects gold hits $6,000 by year-end.

The macro setup is toxic for fiat: policy chaos, Fed uncertainty, geopolitical flare-ups. Investors are fleeing dollar stability for tangible assets.

Bitcoin reclaims $90K

Bitcoin surged past $90,361 Wednesday as President Trump casually waved away dollar weakness, triggering a flight-to-hard-assets rally alongside gold's $5,300 record.

The crypto market digested a critical macro signal: Powell's Fed decision likely stays patient on rates, tilting traders toward risk assets.

But the real catalyst? Thursday's Senate Agriculture Committee vote on the crypto market structure bill is the first serious regulatory clarity play in years.

Democratic backing remains murky, but the absence of poison-pill amendments has bulls.

Bitcoin's overnight reversal from $86K lows signals conviction: macro tailwinds (weak dollar, hard asset demand), policy tailwinds (regulatory framework), and technical momentum (broke $88K resistance).