Equities have been far less volatile than almost everything else so far this year, with bigger swings racing through the markets for precious metals, currencies and commodities.
In the first month of 2026, despite all the jitters about an AI-stock bubble, the real ups and downs were elsewhere. Gold surged to a record, then on Friday tumbled the most since the 1980s. The US dollar veered into its deepest slide since April’s tariff-induced market meltdown on speculation about an intervention to boost the yen while Donald Trump’s Greenland-takeover talk rattled traders. Oil jumped to the highest since August. Meanwhile, the Cboe Volatility Index is sitting below its average over the past year.