A half-per-cent slide on Wall Street is modest in isolation, but the broader pattern of falling equities, surging gold and a softening Bitcoin tells a more cautious story about where institutional money is moving.
A firmer euro is quietly eroding the windfall that surging gold and crude prices might otherwise deliver to European miners, refiners and industrial users.
A bruising session on the Nasdaq sent local investors to the exits, with the broader market unable to shake a risk-off mood despite gold and bitcoin offering pockets of resilience.