The overnight financial markets were a tale of two extremes. The three major U.S. stock indexes showed a divergence, with the Dow Jones rising against the trend by 1.34%, setting a new historical peak; meanwhile, popular tech stocks faced a collective downturn, with Oracle plummeting 10.8%, Intel and Nvidia falling by 3% and 1.5%, respectively, and the Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index also slipping slightly.
The precious metal market staged a carnival, with gold and silver both entering a runaway mode. New York futures gold forcefully broke above the $4,300 mark, ultimately closing at $4,309.3 per ounce, with a single-day increase exceeding $80; the domestic market followed closely, with the Shanghai gold main contract approaching a 1% increase, priced at 968.16 yuan per gram.
The performance of silver has been explosive, showcasing an epic surge in prices. The New York silver futures rose by as much as 6%, while the domestic Shanghai silver main contract directly broke through the 15,000 yuan mark, setting a new historical record. In terms of annual performance, the spot silver price has surged by 120%, far exceeding gold's performance during the same period, highlighting the 'demon silver' characteristic.
The strong surge in precious metals this time is primarily driven by the Federal Reserve's policy shift. The Federal Reserve announced that it will launch a new plan on Friday to purchase $8.2 billion in Treasury bonds; previously, the Fed, while announcing a 25 basis point rate cut, had made it clear that it would complete the purchase of $40 billion in Treasury bonds within the next 30 days.
This action has sparked heated discussions in the market, with the archetype of the 'big short', Michael Burry, stating on social media that the Federal Reserve's restart of the short-term Treasury bond purchase plan precisely exposes the deep vulnerabilities of the U.S. banking system.
At the same time, the weak data from the U.S. job market further fueled expectations for rate cuts, contributing to the rise in gold and silver prices. Data released by the U.S. Labor Department on Thursday showed that for the week ending December 6, initial claims for unemployment benefits surged by 44,000, marking the largest weekly increase since March 2020.
The geopolitical tensions have also become a booster for precious metals. On December 11 local time, the U.S. Treasury announced a new round of sanctions against Venezuela, targeting three nephews of President Maduro and one associated individual, while also including six companies involved in Venezuelan oil transportation and six related ships in the restrictions. Analysts pointed out that this move by the Trump administration aims to further pressure Venezuela. The White House also revealed that Trump will sign relevant bills and executive orders later today.#黄金 #白银 #A股一飞冲天 #贵金属 