Financial Analyst/Content Writer, RADEX MARKETS
Lawrence J. came from a strong technical and engineering background before pivoting into a more financial role later on in his career. Always interested in international finance, Lawrence is experienced in both traditional markets as well as the emerging crypto markets. He now serves as the financial writer for RADEX MARKETS.
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Happy New Year. Markets are currently reacting to the events that unfolded in Venezuela over the weekend. Precious metals all opened with sizeable gaps to the upside this morning and pushed higher still as safe-haven flows pushed prices higher. Gold quickly reclaimed $4,400 per ounce after the opening bell, while silver managed to briefly claw its way back over $76 after closing below $73 last Friday. Platinum and palladium are once again extremely volatile at the start of the week, with wicks in both directions. Interestingly, copper is also up strongly this morning, touching $5.80 per pound and rapidly approaching a new record high. While the latest developments in Venezuela appear to be relatively contained for the time being, many investors will take any excuse they can get to pile on precious metals.
While US futures are largely unchanged, a number of Asian stock exchanges also gapped up this morning. The Japanese Nikkei 225 opened for trading for the first time this year, after being closed last Friday, and wasted no time climbing higher thanks to gains in tech stocks, in line with the surge in chip stocks in the US last week. The broader Topix index rose straight to record highs as soon as the stock market opened for the day, as did the Korean Kospi index. Chip stocks are fully back in focus, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and Samsung undergoing huge spikes this morning, matching the surge in ASML Holding (ASML) last Friday. Conversations are once again turning to chip shortages, to the benefit of the companies vying to meet the incessant demand.
Cryptocurrencies are finally showing some signs of life, with Bitcoin electing to push back over $92,500 early this morning. Despite reaching a record high in 2025, Bitcoin’s performance last year was disappointing to say the least, culminating in a 6% loss overall. In a year where every major stock index hit record highs, to say nothing of the staggering rallies in precious metals, cryptocurrencies severely underperformed in comparison. The crypto industry impatiently awaits the Clarity Act, no doubt delayed by last year’s government closure, but the bill remains alive and well, if various insiders are to be believed. Crypto will need a new narrative to leverage at some point; progress on the regulation front might just be the ticket.
Difficult to speak of Venezuela without mentioning oil markets, but as mentioned above, the weekend’s events appear to be contained for now. Despite Venezuela’s position as an oil producing nation and as a founding member of OPEC, there has been very little reaction in crude markets so far. The South American nation sits on the largest, proven reserves of oil in the world, but its production output has fallen short of the big players for decades already, in large part due to poor management, dated infrastructure and a lack of investment. Taking Venezuela out of the picture is unlikely to shift supply/demand dynamics in a major way, as reflected in the lack of reaction in the Brent Crude index.
This week, for the first time in months, traders will be treated to a full schedule of US labour data. Wednesday presents the latest ADP employment change and JOLT survey, followed on Thursday by the usual jobless claims, but the big event of the week is of course the December NFP report, this time published on the first Friday of the month as intended. Predictions are currently standing at 57k new jobs and an unemployment rate of 4.5%. For many, the report will mark a return to business as usual.
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