China's central bank has once again increased its gold reserves, marking the third consecutive month of growth in January. Official data from the People's Bank of China (PBOC) showed on Friday that the country's gold reserves reached 73.45 million ounces by the end of January, an increase of 160,000 ounces, compared to December 2024. At the same time, gold prices are soaring globally.
The most active April gold futures contract on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange surged past the 2,900-dollar-per-ounce mark for the first time on Wednesday. Investors are flocking to this safe-haven asset as rising global trade tensions, fueled by tariff hikes imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump on other countries, drive concerns over economic stability.
China's central bank expands gold reserves for 3rd consecutive month in Jan
Tokyo stocks rose Friday, with the benchmark Nikkei stock index ending at a fresh record high, buoyed by optimism over a settlement in the Middle East conflict.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average ended up 1,654.93 points, or 2.68 percent, from Thursday at 63,339.07.
The broader Topix index, meanwhile, finished 38.65 points, or 1.00 percent, higher at 3,892.46.
"There was some optimistic trade around the latest U.S.-Iran talks, but this optimism seems to be based on the fact that things aren't getting drastically worse in the region rather than the situation improving significantly," Timothy Pope, a market analyst for China Global Television Network (CGTN), recapped the day's developments.
"This optimism was most strongly on display, I think, in Tokyo today, where the Nikkei rose 2.7 percent with hopes for some relief on oil prices and other currently scarce materials. It's not just oil that is not getting out of the region. As we know, it's other petrochemicals and things like helium as well. The general performance was pretty strong. Metals producers were doing fairly well in Tokyo, but in Japan as well, the market is very much focused on AI stocks. And today, the gains were strong for SoftBank -- it was up almost 12 percent after a bit of a battering earlier in the week. And that SoftBank gain contributed nearly a third to the Nikkei's overall gains on Friday," said Pope.
Tokyo stocks end higher as U.S.-Iran talks fuel cautious optimism
