14/10/2025

BIZ & FINANCE TUESDAY | OCT 14, 2025 17 Gold and silver prices hit record highs NEW YORK: Gold prices scaled to another record high yesterday as investors revved up their safe-haven bets after US President Donald Trump renewed tariff threats against China, while expectations of Fed interest rate cuts added to the metal’s allure. Silver also jumped to an all-time peak, tracking gold’s rally. Spot gold was up 1.4% to US$4,074.02 per ounce, as of 0825 GMT (2.25pm in Malaysia), after hitting a record US$4,078.05/oz. US gold futures for December delivery surged 2.3% to US$4,093.50. Trump on Friday reignited the US trade war with China, threatening 100% tariffs on Chinese goods imports into the United States and announcing new export controls on critical software by Nov 1 in a reprisal against Beijing curbing critical mineral exports. However, Trump, posting on Truth Social on Sunday, wrote: “Don’t worry about China, it will all be fine!” Trade tensions remain a focus for markets, said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo, adding that “while they have eased again between the US and China, the 100% additional tariff threat remains”. “Ongoing strong investment and central bank demand should further support gold. We target a move to US$4,200/oz,” he added. Spot silver jumped 2.2% to US$51.37/oz, after hitting US$51.70/oz, driven by similar factors as gold alongside tightness in the spot market. Goldman Sachs said on Sunday that silver prices were expected to rise in the medium term due to private investment flows, but warned of heightened near-term volatility and downside risks compared to gold. On a technical basis, gold’s and silver’s Relative Strength Index stands at 80 and 83, respectively, indicating the metals are overbought. Non-yielding bullion has gained 53% year-to-date, driven by geopolitical risks, alongside strong central bank gold-buying, exchange-traded funds inflows, Fed rate cut expectations and economic uncertainties stemming from tariffs. Platinum, rose 3.3% to US$1,639.50 and palladium gained 2.9% to US$1,446.48. – Reuters IMF meetings begin under fresh cloud WASHINGTON: The IMF and World Bank’s semi-annual gathering of finance ministers and central bank governors gets underway in Washington yesterday, against the backdrop of new trade threats from the world’s two largest economies. Last week, China unveiled new export restrictions on critical minerals, prompting a fierce response from US President Donald Trump, who said he would impose new 100% tariffs on Beijing in response. The news, delivered just after US stock markets closed on Friday, sent shares plunging after hours, as investors digested the prospect of a reinvigorated trade war. Last week, International Monetary Fund managing director Kristalina Georgieva told an event in Washington that the world economy is doing “better than feared, but worse than we need”. She added that the Fund now expects global growth to slow “only slightly this year and next”, propped up by better-than-expected conditions in the United States, and among some other advanced economies, emerging markets and developing countries. The annual meetings in Washington will take place at the IMF and World Bank’s headquarters, situated just a stone’s throw from the White House. For the World Bank, the focus is likely to remain on job creation, with president Ajay Banga set to take part in several events aimed at boosting labour market participation in countries facing a surge in population growth. – AFP

China’s export growth in September tops forecast

o But renewed trade tensions with America raise risks to outlook

BEIJING: China’s export growth bounced back in September, but renewed trade threats from Beijing and Washington have rekindled worries about jobs and further deflation in an economy heavily reliant on selling its manufactured goods overseas. The world’s second-largest economy has greatly diversified its export markets this year to insulate itself from US President Donald Trump’s 35-percentage-point tariff hikes, helping to keep GDP growth on track towards a roughly 5% target for the year. However, this strategy could get a reality check should Trump carry out his threat of re-imposing triple-digit tariffs on China in retaliation for Beijing announcing sweeping rare earth export controls last week. “While China’s economy has proven more resilient in the face of US tariffs than many had feared, there is still significant potential downside from a deeper rift with the US,” said Capital Economics analyst Julian Evans-Pritchard. China’s exports rose an annual 8.3% last month, customs data showed on Monday, beating a 6% increase in a Reuters poll and registering the fastest growth since March. They compared with a 4.4% increase in August. While the faster export growth is welcome news for a still-fragile economy, Trump’s latest threat to raise US tariffs above 100% would deal a deflationary shock to China and put smaller exporters and jobs of factory workers at risk. China’s choke on rare earths and magnets, where its near-monopoly position gives it great leverage in the trade war, could also paralyse global supply chains in industries from autos to green energy and aircraft. These global risks have most analysts predicting that Beijing and Washington will work towards de-escalation in the coming weeks, and potentially preserve some chances that Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping may still meet at an APEC summit in South Korea at the end of the month, as previously expected. But the range of outcomes is now much larger than it was only a few days ago - a level of uncertainty investors may have to get used to as the US-China rivalry intensifies. “We believe both sides, after testing the

Boxes of clothing for export at a factory in the China city of Guangzhou. – REUTERSPIC

domestic consumers are keeping their wallets shut. This puts pressure on Beijing to introduce more stimulus measures to boost household incomes and domestic demand. Indeed, while China’s imports grew 7.4%, their fastest pace since April 2024, against a 1.3% gain a month prior, and a forecast rise of 1.5%, analysts attributed the uptick to stockpiling by the world’s biggest buyer of commodities. China’s steel imports rose again last month, keeping the country on track for an all-time record this year, while coal purchases rose to a nine-month high, as rising prices spurred buying. Soybean imports reached the second highest level on record, driven by strong purchases from South America, with Chinese buyers still spurning US soybean cargoes. Earlier this month, Trump said he hoped to discuss soybeans with Xi during their planned meeting in South Korea. China’s trade surplus fell to US$90.45 billion in September, from US$102.33 billion a month prior, and missed a forecast of US$98.96 billion. China hoped to get back to the negotiating table with its US counterparts, Vice-Customs Minister Wang Jun told a press conference ahead of the data release. The trade outlook greatly depends on how the high-stakes game of threats between Beijing and Washington unfolds in coming weeks. – Reuters

other’s boundaries, will likely make concessions again, and we still see a decent chance of a Xi-Trump in-person meeting during the upcoming APEC summit in South Korea at end October,” Nomura analysts said. “We view this cycle of tension, escalation and truce as the new normal for US-China relations.” Yesterday’s trade data was overshadowed by the fresh salvos in the US-China trade war, denting Asian markets and sending Chinese stocks sinking sharply in volatile trade. Exports to the US fell by 27% year-on-year, the data showed, while shipments bound for the European Union, Southeast Asia and Africa grew by 14%, 15.6% and 56.4%, respectively. “Chinese firms are actively tapping into new markets with the relative cost advantage of their goods, that’s for sure,” said Xu Tianchen, senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit in Beijing. “The United States now only accounts for less than 10% of China’s direct exports,” he added. “100% tariffs would no doubt add to the pressure China’s export sector is under, but I don’t think the impact will be as large as before.” But Chinese exporters have described the scramble to grow market share elsewhere as a “mad rat race”, squeezing their profit margins and prompting cost-cutting measures at home, such as reducing staff and wages. Factory owners face little choice but to slash prices in pursuit of overseas buyers as

Dutch govt takes control of Chinese-owned chipmaker BEIJING: Chinese semiconductor firm Wingtech said yesterday it will seek help from government departments in Bejiing and vowed to protect its interests, after Dutch authorities intervened over its European subsidiary Nexperia. and actions” within Chinese-owned Nexperia, the statement said. “These signals posed a threat to the continuity and safeguarding on Dutch and European soil of crucial technological knowledge and capabilities,” the statement said. Once part of Dutch electronics giant Philips and its semiconductor spin-off NXP, Nexperia was eventually bought by China’s Wingtech Technology in 2018. It makes chips for everyday goods such as cars and refrigerators.

Semiconductors have become a key battleground between China and the West. The United States and the Netherlands are among the powers that have imposed restrictions on exporting advanced chip-making equipment to China, fearing Beijing could use it to make cutting-edge weapons. Wingtech was put on one of Washington’s “entity lists” in December, meaning it had been determined by the government to be acting contrary to the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States. – AFP

Officials in the Netherlands invoked the Goods Availability Act to take control of Dutch-based chip maker Nexperia in late September, citing national security concerns, a statement published by the Dutch government said on Sunday. This means that while the company – based in the Dutch city of Nijmegen – can continue regular production, its decisions can be blocked or reversed by the Dutch government. This move was due to “recent and acute signals of serious governance shortcomings

Wingtech said yesterday it was proactively engaging with “relevant government departments to secure support” following the decision. The company is discussing legal remedies and measures with international law firms, Wingtech said in a filing published on the Shanghai stock exchange. It vowed to “take all necessary actions to maximise the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of the company and all shareholders”.