UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK will not be forced to choose between the US and China ahead of his Beijing trip this week. Starmer insists that his visit to China will not harm the UK’s relationship with the US. This will be the first UK prime minister to visit China in eight years. He has also played down concerns over national security and human rights, prioritising the economic relationship and efforts to tap into the Chinese market.
The JPY edged modestly lower after two days of sharp gains linked to intervention speculation, easing pressure across currency markets. The dollar stabilised near multi-year lows, while gold and silver held close to record highs, signalling lingering hedging demand even as risk appetite improves. Spot gold is trading at $5,094.46/oz. The spot silver market saw significant volatility overnight, almost hitting $118/oz during the New York session before retracing 13% to $102/oz, and has since recovered to around $111/oz this morning.
Stocks extended their rally for a fifth consecutive session, with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index rising 0.8% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng up 1.3% overnight.
A winter storm in the US is driving up electricity prices and forcing some US-based Bitcoin miners to power down operations.
Today is light on the data-release front. We have the US ADP weekly employment change at 1:15 pm, while all eyes remain on the US Federal Reserve rate decision tomorrow.
