Overview
- Asian equities tracked Wall Street higher, with MSCI Asia ex-Japan up and benchmarks in Japan and South Korea outperforming on tech strength.
- AI optimism returned after Micron jumped about 7% on a broker upgrade, Nvidia gained nearly 4%, and Oracle advanced on a binding deal to run TikTok's US operations through a joint venture that includes a 15% stake.
- The yen fell to record lows against the euro and Swiss franc even after the Bank of Japan lifted its policy rate to 0.75%, prompting Japan’s top currency official to warn of possible action against one-way moves.
- Flows and positioning stayed bullish as TD Securities cited a record $98 billion of weekly equity inflows and Bank of America’s sentiment gauge hit an extreme 8.5, with analysts cautioning that such readings often precede pullbacks during thin holiday turnover.
- Silver notched another all-time high and gold set fresh records, oil prices rose after the US intercepted one Venezuelan tanker and pursued another, and Fed officials signaled no urgency to cut rates, keeping near-term easing expectations restrained.