06/01/2026

BIZ & FINANCE TUESDAY | JAN 6, 2026

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Tech firms lead Asian stock markets higher

Precious metals surge as events in Venezuela spur safe-haven demand NEW YO R K: Gold prices climbed yesterday, while other precious metals also surged after the United States captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro over the weekend, escalating geopolitical tensions and lifting safe-haven demand. As of 0312 GMT (11.12am in Malaysia), spot gold climbed 1.9% to US$4,411.14 per ounce, a one-week high. US gold futures for February delivery gained 2.1% to US$4,419.90. “The events in Venezuela have reignited safe-haven demand, with gold and silver among the beneficiaries as investors look to protect against geopolitical risks,” said Tim Waterer, KCM Trade’s chief market analyst. The US captured Maduro on Saturday, in an operation that reportedly caused civilian deaths. Vice-President Delcy Rodriguez has taken over as interim leader and said that Maduro remains president. Geopolitical tensions, combined with interest rate cuts, robust central bank purchases and inflows into exchange-traded funds contributed to bullion’s 64% gains last year, its biggest annual gain since 1979. It hit a record high of US$4,549.71 on December 26, 2025. Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Anna Paulson said on Saturday that further central bank rate cuts could be some way off after an active campaign of easing last year. Her comments come as investors still expect at least two rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve this year. Waterer added that investors are focused on non-farm payroll data due Friday for more cues on potential Fed rate cuts. Non-yielding assets tend to do well in a low-interest-rate environment and during times of geopolitical or economic uncertainty. Spot silver added 4.4% to US$75.82 per ounce, after hitting an all-time high of US$83.62 on Dec 29. Silver ended the year surging 147%, far outpacing gold, in what was its best ever year on-record. Silver was propelled to fresh highs by its designation as a critical US mineral last year as well as supply constraints in the face of rising industrial and investment demand. Spot platinum was up 2.2% at US$2,190.55 per ounce, after rising to an all-time high of US$2,478.50 last Monday. It rose more than 5% in early Asia hours to a one-week high. Palladium was 1.8% higher at US$1,667.45 per ounce. – Reuters surge in memory chip prices, but Samsung, the world’s No.1 TV maker, is working with partners on longer term strategies to minimise the impact. Market researchers such as IDC and Counterpoint predict the global smartphone market will shrink next year, as the memory chip shortage threatens to drive up phone prices. Roh said the market for foldable phones that Samsung pioneered in 2019 has been growing slower than expected. He attributed this to the engineering complexities and lack of applications suitable for the hardware design, but expected the segment to go mainstream in the next two or three years. A “very high” rate of foldable phone users opt for the same segment for their next purchase, he said, but gave no details. Samsung controlled nearly two-thirds of the foldable smartphone market in the third quarter of 2025, according to Counterpoint. But it faces competition from Chinese companies such as Huawei, as well as Apple, which is expected to launch its first foldable phone this year. – Reuters

HONG KONG: Stocks rose yesterday on the back of a fresh rally in tech firms and oil dipped as investors weighed the impact of the US ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. While the South American leader’s removal added to geopolitical risk on global markets, traders chose to focus on the long-running artificial intelligence boom and hopes for more US interest rate cuts. The first full week of business for 2026 will also see the release of key jobs data that could play a role in the Federal Reserve’s decision-making on borrowing costs. Investors will also be on the lookout for an idea about who US President Donald Trump chooses to take the helm at the central bank when chairman Jerome Powell steps down in May. Asian stocks were up across the board, led by markets with a heavy tech presence. Tokyo surged 3% thanks to tech investor SoftBank’s 4.9% gains and chip equipment maker Tokyo Electron’s 7.6% advance. The Kospi in Seoul gained more than 3%, with SK hynix up nearly 3% and Samsung Electronics soaring 7.5%. Taipei jumped 2.6%t to a record high, led by chip titan TSMC rocketing more than 5%. Shanghai, Singapore, Bangkok, Jakarta, Wellington and Manila were also well up, with Hong Kong and Sydney marginally higher. London, Paris and Frankfurt started on the front foot. The gains suggest investors were brushing off worries that valuations in the tech sector have become stretched and warnings about the timing and size of returns on huge AI investments. “This move now stands as the strongest start to a year for Asian equities since 2012, coming on the heels of a global market that just delivered its best annual return since 2017,” wrote Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management. Still, Kyle Rodda at Capital.com warned: “Valuations remain around levels exceeded only by the Dot.com bubble, while allocation to equities are at elevated levels at the same time allocation to cash is on the low side. “Most simply put, the markets probably need to see more evidence of resilient US growth, continued disinflation and therefore US rate cuts, strong corporate earnings, and the pay-offs from artificial intelligence to keep on rising.”

o Oil dips as investors weigh impact of Maduro ouster by US

Bull statues in front of screens showing the Hang Seng stock index and stock prices outside Exchange Square in Hong Kong. – REUTERSPIC

major questions about the South American country’s future, substantially lifting its oil production will not be easy, quick or cheap. After years of under-investment and sanctions, Venezuela pumps around one million barrels per day, down from around 3.5 million in 1999. “Any recovery in production would require substantial investment given the crumbling infrastructure resulting from years of mismanagement and underinvestment,” UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo told AFP. Investing today also holds little appeal as oil prices are weighed down by a supply glut, and fell last year. – AFP

Safe-haven investment gold was up more than 1% at about US$4,400 per ounce. Oil edged down as investors assess the outlook after American forces attacked Venezuela early on Saturday, bombing military targets and spiriting away Maduro and his wife to face federal charges in New York. Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves, and more Venezuelan crude in the market could exacerbate oversupply concerns and add to recent pressure on prices. Trump said the United States will now “run” Venezuela and send US companies to fix its dilapidated oil infrastructure. But analysts say that alongside other

Samsung to double AI mobile devices to 800 million units this year S EOUL: Samsung Electronics plans to double this year the number of its mobile devices with “Galaxy AI” features largely powered by Google’s Gemini, its co-CEO said, which would give the US firm an edge over rivals as the global race in artificial intelligence heats up. home appliances, all overseen by Roh. It will offer integrated AI services across consumer products to widen its lead over Apple in such features, though the latter was set to be the top smartphone maker last year, according to market researcher Counterpoint. While search is the most used AI feature on phones, consumers also frequently use a range of generative AI editing and productivity tools for images and others, as well as translation and summary features, he said.

Galaxy AI is Samsung’s term for its suite of AI features, including those powered by both Google’s Gemini model and Samsung’s own Bixby for different tasks. Samsung shares ended up 7.5% yesterday, as the company is set to flag a profit jump for the fourth quarter later this week, fueled by a global chip shortage. A global shortage of memory chips is a boon to Samsung’s mainstay semiconductor business, but pressures margins on the smartphone business, its second largest revenue source. “As this situation is unprecedented, no company is immune to its impact,” Roh said, adding that the crisis affects not only mobile phones but other consumer electronics, from TVs to home appliances. He did not rule out raising product prices, saying some impact was “inevitable” from a

Alphabet’s Google launched the latest version of Gemini in November, highlighting Gemini 3’s lead on several popular industry measures of AI model performance. In response to Gemini 3, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reportedly issued an internal “code red“, pausing non-core projects and redirecting teams to accelerate development. The ChatGPT maker launched its GPT-5.2 AI model a few weeks later. Roh expects the adoption of AI to accelerate, as Samsung’s surveys on awareness of its Galaxy AI brand jumped to a level of 80% from about 30% in just one year. “Even though the AI technology might seem a bit doubtful right now, within six months to a year, these technologies will become more widespread,” he said.

The South Korean company, which had rolled out Gemini-backed AI features to about 400 million mobile products, including smartphones and tablets, by last year, plans to boost that figure to 800 million in 2026. “We will apply AI to all products, all functions, and all services as quickly as possible,” TM Roh told Reuters in his first interview since becoming Samsung Electronics co-CEO in November. The plan by the world’s largest backer of Google’s Android mobile platform is set to give a major boost to its developer Google, which is locked in a race with OpenAI and others to attract more consumer users to their AI model. Samsung seeks to reclaim its lost crown from Apple in the smartphone market and fend off competition from Chinese rivals not only in mobile telephones, but televisions and