EUR/USD
1.18053
0.095%
Gold
4520.82
0.815%
Oil
58.275
-0.178%
USD/JPY
155.719
-0.340%
GBP/USD
1.35280
0.079%
GBP/JPY
210.584
-0.257%
Real-time News
New York silver futures rose more than 2.00% on the day, currently trading at $72.56 per ounce.Biocytok-B (02315.HK) surged over 16% after the company was included in the Hong Kong Stock Connect program, effective today.Sources say the U.S. Coast Guard is waiting for a team of experts to arrive before attempting to board the fleeing tanker.On December 24th, the minutes of the Bank of Japans October meeting revealed that policymakers debated whether it was necessary to continue raising interest rates to a neutral level. Some believed this would help achieve long-term stable growth, while a minority of the nine-member policy board expressed concerns that the recent depreciation of the yen could push up import costs, leading to higher inflation. At the October meeting, the Bank of Japan kept interest rates unchanged at 0.5%, but Governor Kazuo Ueda strongly signaled the possibility of a near-term rate hike. Hawkish members Hajime Takada and Naoki Tamura opposed this, advocating for a rate hike to 0.75%. At the subsequent December meeting, the central bank raised interest rates to 0.75%, a 30-year high. The October meeting minutes showed that many members believed the conditions for a rate hike were ripe, but with lingering uncertainty about the impact of increased US tariffs, they wanted further clarification on whether companies would continue to raise wages next year. One member also pointed out that the policy direction of the Sanae Takaichi administration was uncertain, which was also a reason for maintaining the status quo. When the Bank of Japan held its meeting at the end of October, it was just over a week before the Takashi City government took office on October 21, which left policymakers with almost no time to understand the new governments views on monetary policy.Russian air defense forces shot down a drone flying toward Moscow.
