Gold Hits One-week High on Fed Rate-cut Bets, Venezuela Turmoil

FILE PHOTO: UK gold bars and gold Sovereign coins are displayed at Baird & Co in Hatton Garden in London, Britain, October 8, 2025. REUTERS/Hiba Kola//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: UK gold bars and gold Sovereign coins are displayed at Baird & Co in Hatton Garden in London, Britain, October 8, 2025. REUTERS/Hiba Kola//File Photo
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Gold Hits One-week High on Fed Rate-cut Bets, Venezuela Turmoil

FILE PHOTO: UK gold bars and gold Sovereign coins are displayed at Baird & Co in Hatton Garden in London, Britain, October 8, 2025. REUTERS/Hiba Kola//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: UK gold bars and gold Sovereign coins are displayed at Baird & Co in Hatton Garden in London, Britain, October 8, 2025. REUTERS/Hiba Kola//File Photo

Gold rose further on Tuesday to hit a one-week high, as dovish comments from Federal Reserve officials boosted interest rate-cut bets and Venezuela tensions bolstered safe-haven demand.

Spot gold was up 0.5% at $4,469.96 per ounce, as of 0534 GMT, after rising nearly 3% in the last session. Bullion hit a record high of $4,549.71 on December 26, and logged its best annual ‌performance since ‌1979 last year with a jump ‌of ⁠64%.

US gold ‌futures for February delivery rose 0.7% to $4,481.30, Reuters reported.

"(Comments by Fed officials) certainly didn't hurt but it doesn't look like the calculus has changed all that much. We of course have a big week this week with the jobs report on Friday," said Ilya Spivak, head of global macro at Tastylive.

Minneapolis Fed President Neel ⁠Kashkari said on Monday inflation was slowly easing, but there was a risk ‌the jobless rate could "pop" higher, increasing the ‍likelihood of a rate cut.

Investors currently ‍expect at least two rate cuts this year, while they ‍look to the nonfarm payroll report, due on Friday, for more monetary policy cues.

Toppled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro pleaded not guilty on Monday to narcotics charges after US President Donald Trump's capture of him rattled world leaders and left officials in Caracas scrambling to regroup.

"The capture of Maduro illustrated this rupture ⁠between the US and China and more broadly (the ongoing trend of) de-globalization," Spivak said.

Non-yielding assets tend to do well in a low-interest-rate environment and during times of geopolitical or economic uncertainty.

Spot silver gained 3.5% to $79.18 per ounce, after hitting an all-time high of $83.62 on December 29. Silver ended 2025 with annual gains of 147%, far outpacing gold, in what was its best year on record.

Spot platinum was up 2.8% at $2,334.25 per ounce, after rising to an all-time high of $2,478.50 last Monday. It rose more than 5% ‌earlier in the session to a one-week high.

Palladium traded 1.9% higher at $1,739.25 per ounce.



Iraq to Nationalize West Qurna 2 Oil Field Operations, Government Says

An oil field in Iraq. (AFP)
An oil field in Iraq. (AFP)
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Iraq to Nationalize West Qurna 2 Oil Field Operations, Government Says

An oil field in Iraq. (AFP)
An oil field in Iraq. (AFP)

The Iraqi cabinet has approved nationalizing the petroleum operations in the West Qurna 2 oil field, in accordance with the provisions of a service contract signed with Russia's Lukoil, the government said in a ‌statement.

The cabinet ‌also agreed ‌to ⁠seek approvals ‌to finance operations through the Majnoon oilfield account, to be boosted by proceeds from crude shipments sold by state oil marketer SOMO.

Lukoil declared force majeure in ⁠November at West Qurna 2 ‌as it was hit ‍with sanctions ‍alongside Rosneft as part ‍of US President Donald Trump's push to end the war in Ukraine.

Lukoil's 75% operational stake in Iraq's West Qurna 2 oilfield - one of the world's ⁠largest with output of around 470,000 barrels per day - was its biggest foreign asset.

The field accounts for about 0.5% of world oil supply and 9% of total output in Iraq, OPEC's second-largest producer after Saudi Arabia.


Saudi Tadawul to Open Fully to Direct Foreign Investment from Feb. 1

A view of the Saudi capital Riyadh. (Reuters)
A view of the Saudi capital Riyadh. (Reuters)
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Saudi Tadawul to Open Fully to Direct Foreign Investment from Feb. 1

A view of the Saudi capital Riyadh. (Reuters)
A view of the Saudi capital Riyadh. (Reuters)

Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority (CMA) announced a landmark reform allowing all categories of foreign investors to invest directly in the Kingdom’s main stock market, Tadawul, starting February 1.

The move signals a strategic repositioning of the Saudi market as a highly competitive global investment destination.

The CMA has scrapped the “qualified foreign investor” requirement and abolished swap agreements, granting international investors full rights to direct share ownership.

The decision is underpinned by strong foreign investment momentum exceeding $157 billion and rising global confidence in the sustainability of Saudi economic growth.

The reform is also expected to increase Saudi Arabia’s weighting in major global indices, including MSCI and FTSE.

Under the new regulatory framework approved by the CMA’s board, the market shifts from “conditional openness” to “full openness.” Non-resident foreign investors will no longer be required to meet prior qualification criteria to access the main market.

The abolition of swap agreements - previously limiting investors to economic benefits without ownership - will allow foreign investors to hold shares directly and exercise full shareholder rights. This is expected to significantly boost liquidity and attract new institutional and individual investors.

According to the CMA, the amendments aim to expand and diversify the investor base, support capital inflows, and strengthen market liquidity.

By the end of the third quarter of 2025, international investors’ ownership in the Saudi market had surpassed SAR 590 billion ($157.3 billion), while foreign investment in the main market reached around SAR 519 billion, up from SAR 498 billion at the end of 2024. The Authority expects the new framework to draw additional international capital.

The steady rise in foreign investment, even before the reforms take effect, points to a potential surge in inflows in 2026 once the decision is implemented.

The announcement builds on earlier steps taken in July 2025, when the CMA eased procedures for opening and operating investment accounts for certain investor categories, including foreign individuals residing in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states or with prior residency in Saudi Arabia or other GCC countries.

The latest changes align with the CMA’s phased approach to market liberalization and follow the publication, in October 2025, of a draft regulatory framework for public consultation.

The Authority said further steps will follow to deepen market openness and strengthen Tadawul’s position as a global financial hub.


China’s Top Diplomat Tours Africa with Focus on Strategic Trade Routes

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi delivers a speech at the ministerial conference of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing, China September 3, 2024. (Reuters)
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi delivers a speech at the ministerial conference of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing, China September 3, 2024. (Reuters)
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China’s Top Diplomat Tours Africa with Focus on Strategic Trade Routes

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi delivers a speech at the ministerial conference of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing, China September 3, 2024. (Reuters)
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi delivers a speech at the ministerial conference of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing, China September 3, 2024. (Reuters)

China’s top diplomat began his annual New Year tour of Africa on Wednesday, focusing on strategic trade access across eastern and southern Africa as Beijing seeks to secure key shipping ​routes and resource supply lines.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi will travel to Ethiopia, Africa's fastest-growing large economy; Somalia, a Horn of Africa state offering access to key global shipping lanes; Tanzania, a logistics hub linking minerals-rich central Africa to the Indian Ocean; and Lesotho, a small southern African economy squeezed by US trade measures, on this year’s trip, which runs until January 12.

Beijing aims to highlight countries it views as model partners of President Xi Jinping's flagship "Belt and Road" infrastructure program and to expand export markets, particularly in young, ‌increasingly affluent ‌economies such as Ethiopia, where the IMF forecasts growth of ‌7.2% ⁠this ​year.

China, ‌the world's largest bilateral lender, faces growing competition from the European Union to finance African infrastructure, as countries hit by pandemic-era debt strains now seek investment over loans.

"Foreign Minister Wang's visit aims to deepen political and mutual trust," a ministry spokesperson said, adding that the trip would "strengthen exchanges and mutual understanding between the two great civilizations of China and Africa."

Wang opened 2025 by visiting Namibia, the Republic of Congo, Chad and Nigeria.

FIRST DIPLOMATIC MISSION TO SOMALIA IN DECADES

His upcoming visit ⁠to Somalia will be the first by a Chinese foreign minister since the 1980s and is expected to provide Mogadishu ‌with a diplomatic boost after Israel became the first ‍country to formally recognize the breakaway ‍Republic of Somaliland, a northern region that declared itself independent in 1991.

Beijing, which reiterated its ‍support for Somalia after the Israeli announcement in December, is keen to reinforce its influence around the Gulf of Aden, the entrance to the Red Sea and a vital corridor for Chinese trade transiting the Suez Canal to Europe.

Further south, Tanzania is central to Beijing's plan to secure access to ​Africa's vast copper deposits. Chinese firms are refurbishing the Tazara Railway that runs through the country into Zambia. Li Qiang made a landmark trip ⁠to Zambia in November, the first visit by a Chinese premier in 28 years.

The railway is widely seen as a counterweight to the US and European Union-backed Lobito Corridor, which connects Zambia to Atlantic ports via Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

CHINA CHAMPIONS FREE TRADE IN LESOTHO

By visiting the southern African kingdom of Lesotho, Wang aims to highlight Beijing's push to position itself as a champion of free trade.

Last year, China offered tariff-free market access to its $19 trillion economy for the world's poorest nations, fulfilling a pledge by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the 2024 China-Africa Cooperation summit in Beijing.

Lesotho, one of the world's poorest nations with a gross domestic product of just over $2 billion, was among the countries hardest ‌hit by US President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs last year, facing duties of up to 50% on its exports to the United States.