Asia Stocks Rally as Gold, Silver Hit Record Highs: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — Asian equities climbed after Friday’s rally in US stocks helped intensify bets for a strong finish to the year.

MSCI Inc.’s gauge of Asia Pacific shares jumped 1%, with the tech sector leading gains. US stock futures also advanced. Gold and silver hit record highs while oil also rose amid heightened geopolitical tensions, as US President Donald Trump intensified a blockade on Venezuela.

In Japan, bond yields climbed to multi-year highs following last week’s interest-rate hike while the yen strengthened against the dollar after the nation’s chief currency official sent a warning on recent moves.

Hopes for a year-end rally in equities grew as dip buyers late last week helped US stocks recover from a slide driven by doubts over AI exuberance and the scope for Federal Reserve easing. The S&P 500 Index climbed 0.9% on Friday in a second day of gains, wiping out the week’s loss as volumes spiked during a quarterly options and futures expiry, and as traders positioned for a rally into 2026.

“We’re now likely to see markets continue higher,” said Tony Sycamore, an analyst at IG in Sydney. “The one big elephant in the room remains the valuations in AI and where we go from here.”

Spot gold strengthened beyond a previous peak above $4,381 an ounce set in October, having gained for the last two weeks amid expectations for more Federal Reserve rate cuts. Silver also climbed to a record and platinum advanced for an eighth straight session.

Brent climbed toward $61 a barrel after US forces boarded one tanker and pursued another one near Venezuela within weeks of first capturing a vessel.

Japan’s markets remained in focus after the central bank raised its benchmark interest rate to the highest in 30 years on Friday. Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda chose to keep his options open rather than bolster the yen, delivering a cautious rate hike that left the currency sliding toward levels which have triggered intervention in the past.

The yen rose on Monday as Atsushi Mimura, Japan’s chief currency official, said he was “deeply concerned” about what he termed as “one-directional, sudden moves,” especially after last week’s monetary policy meeting. “We’d like to take appropriate responses against excessive moves,” Mimura told reporters.

Meanwhile, Japan’s benchmark 10-year yield climbed 7.5 basis points to 2.095%, a level unseen since February 1999. The two-year yield, which is sensitive to monetary policy expectations, rose to the highest since 1997.

Elsewhere, China’s commercial banks kept the one-and five-year loan prime rates unchanged on Monday, as expectations grow that the People’s Bank of China may ease policy next year.

Equities in China also climbed amid the broad Asia rally. Over the weekend, Republican lawmakers in the House Select Committee on China asked the Pentagon to list more than a dozen companies as military firms.

Monday’s rally in Asian stocks came after the regional benchmark lost 1.9% last week, snapping a three-week winning run. A sub-gauge of regional technology shares climbed 2.1% in early trading after the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index rallied 3% on Friday.

In terms of data, UK and US growth readings are due this week, as well as minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia’s December policy meeting which may give clues to whether it could hike in February. In Japan, Tokyo inflation as well as national jobs data are due, which may help traders assess the outlook for BOJ’s policy.

Corporate News

China Vanke Co., once the country’s biggest developer before it succumbed to an unprecedented property crisis, is heading into one of the most consequential days since it was founded in the 1980s as creditors holding a local bond finish voting Monday on several requests. A group of private equity firms led by Permira and Warburg Pincus has agreed to acquire Clearwater Analytics Holdings Inc. in a deal valuing the investment and accounting software maker at $8.4 billion including debt. Chinese chipmakers are rushing to the IPO market, raising funds that are key to the nation’s goal of technological self-reliance and winning the global race on artificial intelligence. Seven & i Holdings Co.’s chief executive is pressing its US convenience-stores business to deliver a faster turnaround as the retailer seeks a public listing of the unit to fund new investment and lift shareholder returns. Li Ka-shing and his family set in motion a series of deals this year that stand to completely transform the Hong Kong billionaire’s business empire. Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

S&P 500 futures rose 0.3% as of 11:29 a.m. Tokyo time Japan’s Topix rose 0.8% Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.9% Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.2% The Shanghai Composite rose 0.6% Euro Stoxx 50 futures were little changed Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1718 The Japanese yen rose 0.3% to 157.27 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.0360 per dollar Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin rose 0.2% to $88,281.43 Ether rose 0.9% to $2,998.96 Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced two basis points to 4.16% Australia’s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to 4.80% Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.8% to $56.99 a barrel Spot gold rose 0.9% to $4,379.49 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Matthew Burgess and Chris Bourke.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.