President Donald Trump said his administration is going to audit the U.S. gold reserves kept at Fort Knox in Kentucky.

“We’re going to go to Fort Knox, the fabled Fort Knox, to make sure the gold is there,” Trump said Wednesday on Air Force One.

A drive to audit Fort Knox has gained steam from comments by Elon Musk on X recently. Over the past few decades, conspiracy theories have emerged from time to time about whether the government is being truthful about the amount of gold stored there because of the fort’s high security.

The Treasury Department gives the exact amounts of the U.S. gold reserves on its website and says there are 147,341,858.382 troy ounces in Fort Knox.

“I think if this administration presses for an audit, that’ll be a good thing for everybody,” said Alamos Gold CEO John McCluskey on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Thursday.

Treasury officials have confirmed that the gold is there at Fort Knox. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday told a Wisconsin broadcaster that the Treasury does an audit every year.

“All the gold is present and accounted for,” Bessent said

In response to a question from CNBC’s David Faber on “Squawk on the Street” on whether there is gold at Fort Knox, former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said: “The gold was there when I visited it. I hope nobody’s moved it. I’m sure they haven’t.”

Bessent’s comments from earlier this month, to “monetize the asset side of the U.S. balance sheet for the American people” also added to recent investor speculation that the U.S. government should audit its gold reserves and perhaps revalue them. The Treasury Department’s current gold holdings are priced at $42 per ounce, a level that is set by law and hasn’t changed since 1973.

Spot gold on Thursday rose, hitting another record high of $2,954.69 an ounce earlier in the session. That’s bullion’s tenth record high of the year.

President Donald Trump ordered a halt to the production of new pennies, which he said will help reduce “wasteful” government spending.

“For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “This is so wasteful! I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies. Let’s rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it’s a penny at a time,” Trump wrote.

It’s not clear whether the president has the authority to stop the manufacture of the 1-cent coin. According to the U.S. Constitution, coinage power, as recognized by the Supreme Court, is “exclusive” to Congress. Federal law says the Treasury secretary can mint and issue coins as necessary for the needs of the United States.

But at least one analyst on Wall Street expects that the penny’s days are numbered. TD Cowen’s Jaret Seiberg said the halt will likely pass judicial review, leading to a shortage of the coin.

“We believe this order would survive judicial review, which is why this is likely to occur,” Seiberg wrote Monday. “We worry about this leading to a shortage of pennies, which could force merchants to pay banks more for coins. It also adds legal risk for merchants and banks. That could create the crisis needed to force Congress to act.”

Seiberg said he expects this could support the move toward electronic payments, bolstering companies such as Visa, Mastercard and other real-time payment networks.

What is clear is that pennies cost more to make than they are worth. In 2024, the U.S. Mint spent 3.69 cents to manufacture each penny, according to an annual report. That meant the cost of each penny has run above its face value for a 19th straight fiscal year.

The latest U.S. Mint report suggests the nickel better watch its back, too. Each 5-cent piece costs the Mint 13.78 cents to make.

Check out the companies making headlines in extended trading:

Amazon — The e-commerce giant fell 2% after issuing weaker-than-expected guidance for the current quarter. Amazon said it forecasts sales in the first quarter between $151 billion and $155.5 billion. Analysts surveyed by LSEG were looking for $158.5 billion. Meanwhile, the company’s fourth-quarter earnings and revenue were above consensus expectations. 

Take-Two Interactive Software — The video game company jumped nearly 7% despite posting fiscal third-quarter revenue of $1.37 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG had expected $1.39 billion. Take-Two sees its current-quarter revenue, based on net bookings, coming in between $1.48 billion and $1.58 billion versus the estimated $1.54 billion.

Affirm Holdings — Shares of the payment company jumped more than 9% following a top-line beat for the fiscal second quarter. Affirm reported $866 million in revenues, while analysts expected $807 million, per LSEG. Gross merchandise volume grew 35% year-over-year in the prior quarter.

Pinterest — Shares of the social media company popped 18%. Revenue for the fourth quarter came in at $1.15 billion, slightly ahead of analysts’ estimates of $1.14 billion, per LSEG. Pinterest also said it expects revenue of $837 million to $852 million in the first quarter, while analysts sought $833 million.

Expedia — The stock gained 11% after the company’s fourth-quarter results topped Wall Street expectations. Expedia posted adjusted earnings of $2.39 per share on revenue of $3.18 billion. That is more than the $2.04 per share on $3.07 billion in revenue that analysts had penciled in, according to LSEG. The company also reinstated its quarterly dividend at 40 cents per share.

Bill Holdings — Shares plunged about 32% after the billing software company issued disappointing fiscal third-quarter revenue guidance. Bill Holdings expects for that period to generate revenue between $352.5 million and $357.5 million, below the $360.4 million that analysts surveyed by LSEG were expecting. However, earnings and revenue for the second quarter beat analysts’ expectations.

Fortinet — The cybersecurity stock rallied 11%. Fortinet posted better-than-expected results for the fourth quarter, in addition to strong guidance for the full year. Fortinet sees full-year revenues falling between $6.65 billion and $6.85 billion, topping the $6.63 billion estimate from analysts, per LSEG. 

E.l.f. Beauty — The cosmetics company tumbled 23% after slashing its guidance for the full fiscal year. E.l.f now sees sales ranging from $1.3 billion to $1.31 billion, short of consensus estimates of $1.34 billion, per StreetAccount. Adjusted earnings for the third quarter also narrowly missed expectations, coming in at 74 cents per share versus analysts’ forecast for 75 cents a share, per LSEG.

Monolithic Power Systems — The semiconductor stock soared 16% following strong fourth-quarter results. Monolithic Power Systems reported adjusted earnings of $4.09 per share on revenue of $621.7 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had called for earnings of $3.98 per share on $608.1 million in revenue. The company also issued better-than-expected revenue guidance for the current quarter and a $500 million stock repurchase program. Management also increased the quarterly dividend by nearly 25%. 

— CNBC’s Sean Conlon, Lisa Kailai Han and Darla Mercado contributed reporting.

Wall Street’s fear gauge — the VIX — spiked by the second biggest percentage in its history on Wednesday, after the Federal Reserve jolted the stock market by saying it would dial back its rate-cutting campaign.

The CBOE Volatility Index surged 74% to close at 27.62, up from around 15 earlier in the day. That surge is the second-greatest in history, behind a 115% leap to above the 37 handle back in February 2018 when there was a blow-up in funds tracking the volatility index.

Wednesday’s move comes after the central bank said it will likely lower interest rates just twice next year, down from the four cuts it projected back in September, alarming investors who wanted low rates to keep fueling the bull market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled by 1,100 points to its 10th straight loss.

Typically, a value greater than 20 in the VIX indicates a higher level of fear in the market. However, for most of this year, the VIX had been suppressed below that level, worrying investors who believed the market had gotten overly complacent.

The VIX is calculated based on the prices of put and call options on the S&P 500. A spike could indicate a rush by investors to purchase put options for protection in a decline.

Still, there have been one other significant surge in the VIX in 2024. The third-biggest surge in the VIX in history occurred in Aug. 5, 2024, when fears of a U.S. recession, and a major unwind in the yen carry trade, spurred a roughly 65% increase in the VIX to close above 38. On an intraday basis, the VIX briefly topped 65 that day.

On Thursday, the VIX was last floating just above the 20 handle, down more than 25% from the prior day.

Stocks typically rise after a presidential election — but investors need to be prepared for some short-term choppiness first, history shows.

The three major benchmarks on average have seen gains between Election Day and year-end in the presidential election year going back to 1980, according to CNBC data. However, investors shouldn’t be expecting a straight shot up in the market after polls close.

In fact, the three indexes have all averaged declines in the session and week following those voting days. Stocks have tended to erase most or all of those losses within a month, CNBC data shows.

This means investors shouldn’t be anticipating an immediate pop on Wednesday or the next few days after.

That’s especially true given the chance that the presidential race, which is considered neck-and-neck, may not be called by Wednesday morning. America may also need to wait for close Congressional races to have final counts for determining which party has control of the either house.

The “election is now center stage as the next catalyst for financial markets,” said Amy Ho, executive director of strategic research at JPMorgan. “We caution that uncertainty could linger on the outcome as the timeline for certifying election results could take days for the presidential race and weeks for the House races.”

This election comes amid a strong year for stocks that’s pushed the broader market to all-time highs. With a gain of about 20%, 2024 has seen the best first 10 months of a presidential election year since 1936, according to Bespoke Investment Group.

China stocks rallied to their best day in 16 years, with related U.S. ETFs also soaring after recent economic stimulus buoyed investor optimism in the market.

The Shanghai Composite rallied 8.06% in its best day since September 2008, and capping a nine-day win streak for the index. It ended September up 17.39%, its first monthly gain in five and its best monthly performance going back to April 2015.

The Shenzhen Composite Index closed up 10.9%, its best day since April 1996. It gained 24.8% in September, its best month going back to April 2007.

The China ADR index gained nearly 6%.

The U.S. listed shares of human resources company Kanzhun surged 9% along with online video company Bilibili. Tencent Music Entertainment gained 2.9%, while online brokerage company Futu Holdings rose 15%.

The KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF (KWEB) gained 4.2%, while the iShares China Large-Cap ETF (FXI) rose 2.2%.

The U.S. listed shares of Alibaba had gained more than 4%, while JD.com was up by 5.4%.

Chinese stocks have been on a tear after Beijing last week unveiled a slew of economic stimulus measures including interest rate cuts to support the weak property market. On Thursday, state media said Chinese President Xi Jinping and other top leaders affirmed the measures.

“While we don’t know for sure if there’s going to be enough to really kick the economy back into gear, it’s certainly the right first step,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Securities. “I think the impact of a strengthening China can’t be underestimated.”

“On balance, this is going to be an ambiguous positive for markets going forward,” he added. “And I think that there’s a lot of investors are going to have to quickly recalibrate their expectations.”

More U.S. investors are bullish on the market following the move. Last week, billionaire hedge fund founder David Tepper said he is overwhelmingly bullish on Chinese equities, having bought “everything” related to China following the Federal Reserve’s recent rate cut.

— CNBC’s Gina Francolla, Nick Wells, Lim Hui Jie and Evelyn Cheng contributed to this report.

Check out the companies making headlines in extended trading:

Adobe — Shares plunged more than 10% after the software company issued soft guidance. Adobe issued a fiscal fourth-quarter revenue forecast in a range between $5.50 billion and $5.55 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG had estimated $5.61 billion in revenue. Guidance for adjusted earnings per share came in at $4.63 to $4.68 per share, while analysts had expected $4.67 in earnings per share. Meanwhile, third-quarter adjusted earnings and revenue beat estimates. 

Oracle — The cloud software company advanced nearly 6% after raising its revenue guidance. The company announced during its analyst day on Thursday that it estimates 2026 revenue of at least $66 billion, higher than prior guidance for $65 billion and analysts’ forecast for $64.8 billion, per FactSet. 

Neurocrine Biosciences — The neuroscience-focused biopharma company lost more than 2%. Neurocrine Biosciences reported that its investigational drug luvadaxistat, a schizophrenia treatment, failed to reach primary endpoints in a phase two study. 

RH — The home furnishings company surged nearly 19% after posting a top- and bottom-line beat for the fiscal second quarter. RH reported adjusted earnings of $1.69 per share on $830 million in revenue. Analysts surveyed by LSEG had called for $1.56 in earnings per share and revenue of $825 million. 

Aptiv PLC — Shares of the auto parts company added 1.7%. A filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission showed CEO Kevin Clark purchased nearly 30,000 shares earlier this week. 

— CNBC’s Nick Wells contributed reporting.

Check out the companies making headlines after the bell: 

Cava Group — The fast-casual restaurant brand saw shares climb nearly 6% in after hours trading following a better-than-expected earnings report. Cava posted a profit of 17 cents per share, or 4 cents above the LSEG estimate. Its revenue also came in above expectations.

Uber — Shares of the ride-sharing platform fell about 3% after the company and General Motors‘ Cruise announced a multiyear partnership. The embattled autonomous vehicle company plans to offer driverless rides to Uber users as soon as next year. GM shares rose more than 1% after hours.

Ross Stores — The off-price retailer’s stock surged about 6% in extended trading following an earnings beat. Ross reported an EPS of $1.59 in the second quarter, 9 cents above the analyst expectation, according to LSEG. Revenue of $5.25 billion matched the estimate.

Workday — Shares of cloud company dropped more than 6% even after the firm’s earnings and revenue exceeded expectations. Investors could be focusing on the firm’s subscription revenue forecast for the third quarter, which is at $1.96 billion, compared with $1.97 billion expected by analysts polled by StreetAccount.

Bill Holdings — The cloud-based payments company saw shares rising more than 3% after a stronger-than-expected quarterly report. Bill posted adjusted earnings of 57 cents per share in the fiscal fourth quarter, or 11 cents above a LSEG estimate. Revenue of $344 million was also higher than an expectation of $328 million.

Intuit — The financial technology platform’s shares climbed about 3% in extended trading, boosted by strong earnings. Intuit posted earnings of $1.99 per share, excluding items, on revenue of $3.18 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG expected an EPS of $1.84 and revenue of $3.08 billion.

Check out the companies making headlines in extended trading:

Intel — The chip stock sank 17%. Intel said it would suspend its dividend in the fiscal fourth quarter, and it announced plans to lay off 15% of its workforce. The news coincided with worse-than-expected quarterly results. Intel also shared disappointing guidance for the current quarter.

Amazon — Shares of the e-commerce giant dropped 5% in extended trading. The company reported weaker-than-expected revenue for the second quarter and issued a disappointing forecast for the third quarter. Revenue in its cloud division increased 19% in the second quarter, beating analysts’ estimates, however.

Apple — Shares of the iPhone maker inched higher, as the company beat analysts’ estimates on the top and bottom lines. Apple reported fiscal third-quarter earnings of $1.40 per share while analysts polled by LSEG called for $1.35 per share. Revenue clocked in at $85.78 billion, also surpassing the Street’s estimates.

DoorDash — Shares surged nearly 14% after the online food ordering company reported a revenue beat in the second quarter. DoorDash posted $2.63 billion in revenue while analysts polled by LSEG had estimated $2.54 billion. Management also raised the marketplace gross order value forecast for the third quarter.

Coinbase — The crypto exchange operator saw its shares rise nearly 5% in extended trading. In the second quarter, revenue came in at $1.45 billion, slightly above estimates of $1.40 billion, according to LSEG.

Block — The fintech company rallied more than 7% on better-than-expected adjusted earnings in the second quarter. Block reported adjusted earnings of 93 cents per share, coming above consensus calls for 84 cents per share, according to analysts surveyed by LSEG. Meanwhile, revenue of $6.16 billion missed analysts’ estimates for $6.28 billion. 

Snap — The parent of the instant messaging app cratered 17%. Snap called for third-quarter adjusted earnings to range between $70 million and $100 million, falling short of the $110 million estimate from analysts polled by StreetAccount. Revenue for the latest quarter missed the Street’s forecasts.

Roku — Shares jumped more than 5% after Roku posted second-quarter results that exceeded expectations. The streaming device company posted a narrower-than-expected quarterly loss of 24 cents per share, better than the loss of 43 cents per share anticipated by analysts polled by LSEG. Revenue of $968 million topped the $938 million consensus estimate.

Clorox — The stock advanced 4%. Clorox issued fiscal full-year earnings guidance in a range between $6.55 and $6.80 per share, coming above analysts’ estimates of $6.45 in earnings per share, according to analysts polled by LSEG. Fiscal fourth-quarter adjusted earnings came in at $1.82 per share, while consensus estimates called for $1.56 per share.

Coterra Energy — Shares dipped 1.8% after Coterra Energy posted disappointing earnings results. Coterra reported adjusted second-quarter earnings of 37 cents per share, below the FactSet consensus estimate of 39 cents in earnings per share.   

GoDaddy — Shares jumped 6% after the web hosting company raised its revenue guidance for the full year. GoDaddy issued full-year revenue guidance between $4.525 billion and $4.565 billion, while analysts polled by FactSet had expected $4.53 billion. 

— CNBC’s Sarah Min, Yun Li, Samantha Subin, Tanaya Macheel and Darla Mercado contributed reporting.

Check out the companies making headlines in extended trading:

Alphabet — The tech giant slipped 1% despite a beat on both top and bottom lines in the second quarter. Alphabet earned $1.89 per share on $84.74 billion in revenue. Consensus estimates had called for earnings of $1.84 per share on $84.19 billion in revenue. However, revenue at its YouTube advertising segment missed forecasts.

Tesla — Shares of the electric vehicle maker declined 4.7% after second-quarter earnings missed consensus estimates. Tesla reported adjusted earnings per share at 52 cents, while analysts surveyed by LSEG had called for 62 cents per share. On the other hand, the company posted $25.5 billion in quarterly revenue, which was slightly higher than the $24.77 billion estimated by the Street. 

Visa — Shares slipped more than 2% after the company posted a revenue miss in its fiscal third quarter. Visa reported $8.9 billion in revenue, which came in slightly below the $8.92 billion forecast by analysts polled by LSEG. Meanwhile, payments volume rose 7% in the quarter. 

Seagate — Shares rallied more than 6% after Seagate posted an earnings and revenue beat in the fiscal fourth quarter. Seagate earned $1.05 per share, excluding items, on $1.89 billion in revenue. Analysts surveyed by LSEG had estimated it would earn 75 cents per share on revenue of $1.87 billion. The company cited an improving cloud environment for its stronger performance.

Capital One Financial — Shares of the credit card issuer fell about 1% after its second-quarter profit fell from a year ago as the bank put aside more money to offset potential credit losses. Revenue rose 5% to $9.51 billion from the year-ago period, but was lower than analysts surveyed by LSEG had expected.

Texas Instruments — The chipmaker rallied 5% after reporting better-than-expected earnings. Texas Instruments recorded $1.22 in earnings per share versus the consensus estimate of $1.17 per share, per LSEG. The company’s revenue of $3.82 billion came in line with forecasts.

Mattel — The toymaker advanced more than 1% after announcing its second-quarter results. Its adjusted earnings per share of 19 cents topped analysts’ estimates for 17 cents per share, according to LSEG data. Revenue of $1.08 billion slightly missed forecasts of $1.1 billion. Mattel reiterated its full-year guidance and highlighted its gross margin expansion.

Cal-Maine Foods — Shares of the nation’s largest egg producer fell 1% as the avian flu outbreak continues to pressure its performance. In the fiscal fourth quarter, earnings of $2.32 per share were higher than a year ago, but shy of the $2.41 per share analysts predicted, according to FactSet. Sales of $640.8 million also fell short of the $652.3 million estimate.

Enphase Energy — The solar energy stock added 5% despite weaker-than-expected second-quarter results. Enphase posted earnings of 43 cents per share, after adjustments, which was 5 cents below consensus estimates, according to LSEG. Revenue of $304 million also fell short of the $310 million analysts forecast. However, shares rose on better-than-expected margins and its third-quarter forecast of between $370 million and $410 million in revenue, which was above the $404 million analyst estimate.

Chubb — The insurance company gained nearly 1%. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $5.38 in the second quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.14 per share, per FactSet. 

— CNBC’s Christina Cheddar Berk contributed reporting.