EUR/USD
1.16203
-0.038%
Gold
4537.90
-0.126%
Oil
97.798
-0.474%
USD/JPY
158.897
-0.014%
GBP/USD
1.34257
-0.068%
GBP/JPY
213.335
-0.080%
Real-time News
Futures Commentary by Everbright Futures: On May 20th, COMEX gold initially fell before rising, surging intraday to close at $4546.2 per ounce, a gain of 0.78%. Domestic SHFE gold futures opened higher and continued to rise in the night session, closing at 995.92 yuan per gram, a gain of 0.88%. 1. Geopolitically, Trump stated on Wednesday that negotiations between the US and Iran had entered the "final stage," reiterating that war would be "very rapid." Meanwhile, media reports indicated that some oil tankers had begun to re-enter the Strait of Hormuz. According to reports, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy stated on Wednesday that 26 ships, including oil tankers, container ships, and other merchant vessels, had passed through the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours, coordinated with Iran. Influenced by this news, the US dollar and US Treasury yields fell slightly, providing support for gold. However, given the relatively volatile geopolitical news, the impact of further developments on gold prices should be closely monitored. 2. The minutes of the Federal Reserves April policy meeting, released yesterday, showed that participants generally believed that given persistently high inflation data and the uncertainty surrounding the duration of the Middle East conflict and its economic impact, the period of remaining on hold might exceed previous expectations. If the US-Iran conflict keeps inflation high, a rate hike might indeed be necessary. However, since previous expectations for a rate hike had already been partially priced in, the impact on gold prices was limited. Looking ahead, the assessment of the US-Iran conflict remains the dominant factor for gold. Until these uncertainties are effectively resolved, investors should lower their expectations for gold prices in the first half of the year.According to Nippon Television News, Japan is considering proposing a supplementary budget of approximately 3 trillion yen.On May 21, Bank of Japan policy board member Junko Koeda expressed support for raising the benchmark interest rate, the latest sign that momentum is building for action as early as next month. "I believe that potential inflation could exceed 2% in the future," Koeda said on Thursday in a speech to local business leaders in Fukuoka, western Japan. "Therefore, I believe it is reasonable for the Bank of Japan to raise the policy rate at an appropriate pace to address high inflation, while considering the pros and cons to the economy." At the April policy meeting, Koeda was one of the majority members who voted to keep the rate unchanged; that meeting saw a 6-3 vote, the largest split since Governor Kazuo Ueda took office. While Koeda did not specify her preferred timing for the next move, her comments likely support speculation that the authorities will raise rates at the next policy decision on June 16. She is the second member in the majority to hint at a possible future rate hike, after the Bank of Japan stated earlier this month that the authorities should raise rates "at the earliest possible stage" as long as the economy remains stable.On May 21, the State Council Information Office held a press conference to introduce the relevant situation of the special campaign to regulate administrative law enforcement involving enterprises. It was learned at the press conference that since its launch in March last year, the special campaign has investigated and corrected more than 66,000 cases of prominent problems in administrative law enforcement involving enterprises nationwide as of March this year, recovering 30.7 billion yuan in economic losses for enterprises. It has promoted the implementation of "comprehensive inspections in one go" and tiered and categorized inspections across the country, resulting in a 34% year-on-year decrease in the total number of administrative inspections. Hu Weilie, Vice Minister of Justice, stated that in one year, the special campaign has focused on rectifying prominent problems such as "arbitrary charges, fines, inspections, and seizures," "illegal cross-regional enforcement," and "profit-driven enforcement," achieving significant results.On May 21, SoftBank Groups stock price surged nearly 20% in early Tokyo trading, boosted by news that OpenAI was planning to file for an IPO. On the same day, SB Energy, SoftBanks second-largest investment in a data center energy infrastructure company, announced it would secretly file a registration statement for a U.S. IPO. SoftBank has a close relationship with OpenAI Capital, holding approximately 13% of its shares, and has invested approximately $64.6 billion through its Vision Fund. Sources familiar with the matter revealed that OpenAI plans to file for an IPO in the coming weeks, aiming for a listing this fall.
