The action was strongest again in the gold market, where the metal’s price keeps ripping higher in its astounding run. Microsoft sank 10.4% even though the tech giant reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Companies across the market are under pressure to deliver solid growth in profits following record-setting runs for their stock prices. Stock prices tend to follow the path of corporate profits over the long term, and earnings need to rise to quiet criticism that stock prices have grown too expensive. Some of the wildest action in financial markets was again for precious metals, as gold’s price rallied another 4.5% to $5,579.00 per ounce.