Asian shares mixed as gold and silver hit record highs
US futures fell on Friday and Asian stocks traded mixed; Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 is on the rise.
Gold and silver prices rose to records, continuing their sharp rise during the year as investors, including central banks, stocked up on precious metals seen as safe havens in times of uncertainty.
The gold price rose 0.9 percent to $4,541.80 per ounce, while the silver price rose 4.5 percent to $74.90 per ounce, at one point surpassing $75 per ounce.
Previous increases in gold prices partly reflected concerns during the weeks-long U.S. government shutdown.
Expectations that the US Federal Reserve will further reduce interest rates in the new year and weaken the dollar against other currencies also increased gold purchasing.
“Gold is doing what gold does when the world loses its anchor: it becomes the anchor,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a recent report.
“For centuries, gold has been the only asset that has not blinked. When politics goes wrong, when currencies lose value, when inflation eats up the furniture, gold is the only security that the world still sees as final.”
In share trading, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.7 percent to 50,750.39 after the cabinet approved a record defense budget of more than nine trillion yen for the next fiscal year.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government aims to strengthen Japan’s retaliatory capabilities and coastal defenses with cruise missiles and unmanned arsenals at a time of rising tensions with China.
Heavy industry and high-tech companies led the progress.
The dollar rose from 155.83 yen to 156.25 Japanese yen. The euro fell from $1.1785 to $1.1777.
Markets in mainland China rose; The Shanghai Composite index rose 0.1 percent to 3,963.68.
South Korean Kospi increased by 0.5 percent to 4,129.68 points, while Taiwan’s Taiex increased by 0.7 percent.
Shares fell in Thailand and India.
Elsewhere in the region, markets in Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia were closed.
Most European markets will remain closed on Friday, while Wall Street will reopen with a full day of trading after the Christmas holiday.
Volumes will likely remain low as most investors close positions throughout the year.
In other trading early Friday, U.S. crude oil rose 18 cents to $58.53 a barrel, while Brent crude rose 15 cents to $61.95 a barrel.
Oil prices have fallen recently after rising near $70 a barrel in June.
Bitcoin price rose 2.2 percent to $89,705.
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