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January 5th - According to foreign media analysis, the case of Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega, arrested by the US government more than 30 years ago, may serve as a significant reference for Maduro's case. Noriega was accused of involvement in drug smuggling into the US and was also arrested during a military operation within his own country. His lawyers argued that the US invasion and cross-border arrest violated international law and due process, and that Noriega, as a head of state, enjoyed immunity. However, the court did not accept this argument, ruling that the manner in which he was brought to the US did not affect criminal jurisdiction. Legal experts point out that if Maduro claims he was illegally brought to the US, existing precedents support continuing the prosecution. The real difficulty lies in whether he enjoys immunity as a head of state or for official acts. The difference is that the US did not recognize Noriega's head of state status at the time, while the Department of Justice, in its indictment unsealed on Saturday, referred to Maduro as the "de facto but illegitimate ruler" of Venezuela. Steve Vladek, a professor at Georgetown University's Law Center, stated, "This lawsuit is by no means a sure thing," especially regarding the accusations against Maduro himself.

On January 5th, according to Tianyancha's risk information platform, Fang Yunzhou, Zhang Yong, and Yichun Langling Enterprise Management Consulting Center (Limited Partnership) were recently added to the list of judgment debtors, with an enforcement target of over 1.05 million yuan. The executing court is the Shanghai First Intermediate People's Court. Yichun Langling Enterprise Management Consulting Center (Limited Partnership) was established in October 2021, with Fang Yunzhou as the general partner and a capital contribution of 5.48 million yuan. Its business scope includes social and economic consulting services and information consulting services. Partner information shows that the consulting center is jointly funded by Fang Yunzhou, Zhang Yong, and more than 40 other partners.

January 5th - As of midday closing, the Hang Seng Index fell 0.08%, and the Hang Seng Tech Index fell 0.18%. On the sector front, oil stocks, auto stocks, commercial aerospace stocks, and gaming software stocks led the declines, while short video concept stocks, pharmaceutical outsourcing concept stocks, brain-computer interface concept stocks, and mainland property stocks led the gains. NIO (09866.HK) fell over 5%, Great Wall Motor (02333.HK), XPeng Motors (09868.HK), and PetroChina (00857.HK) fell over 4%, CNOOC (00883.HK) fell over 3%, and Sinopec (00386.HK) fell over 1%. Nanjing Panda Electronics (00553.HK) surged nearly 45%, Joinn Laboratories (06127.HK) rose over 11%, and Kuaishou (01024.HK) and Shimao Group (00813.HK) rose over 9%.

The yield on Japan's 40-year government bonds rose 2.5 basis points to 3.630%.

On January 5th, Daiwa Securities issued a report stating that Mixue Group (02097.HK) is facing a potential downward valuation reassessment due to slowing future profit growth, and its second growth engine has not yet been validated. The bank downgraded its investment rating from "Outperform" to "Hold" and lowered its valuation basis from a projected P/E ratio of 28x to 22x, with the target price reduced from HK$535 to HK$427. The bank believes that Mixue's current valuation of 21x (equivalent to a projected P/E ratio for this year) is high, compared to 15-19x for mainland catering peers, and its forecast of a 15% CAGR for Mixue's earnings from 2025 to 2027. The report stated that after the subsidy boom, Mixue's same-store sales growth has remained resilient, and its branch network expansion may provide some support, but the bank believes the market may have overly high expectations for a second growth engine.

January 5th, Futures News: Economies.com analysts' latest view: International spot gold rose in recent intraday trading, benefiting from the dominance of the main short-term uptrend. Currently, gold prices are moving along the support trendline of this trend, and the Relative Strength Index (RSI) has shown a positive confluence signal after escaping overbought conditions, paving the way for further gains in the short term. On the other hand, prices are attempting to break free from the negative pressure of the EMA50, which is temporarily hindering price increases. Therefore, prices are more likely to enter the intraday trading range before finding a trend in the following trading sessions.

Nomura Securities raised its target price for Baidu (BIDU.O) from $140 to $178.

On January 5th, Vasu Menon, Managing Director of Investment Strategy at OCBC Bank in Singapore, stated that despite Trump's promise of US corporate support for revitalizing Venezuelan oil production, restarting operations will require a considerable amount of time and capital investment before full capacity can be restored. Amidst ongoing political turmoil, supply disruptions could slightly push up oil prices in the short term. However, given that Venezuela is not currently a major oil producer, its impact is likely to be limited. OPEC's production decisions also help stabilize oil prices. "Overall, after a year of significant geopolitical events in 2025, the market now appears less vulnerable to geopolitical risks. Short-term contingencies may trigger some tensions, but as seen last year, their impact may be short-lived."

On January 5th, Tai Hui, Chief Market Strategist for Asia Pacific at JPMorgan Asset Management, believes there are two reasons why the market has not reacted strongly to the US takeover of Venezuela. First, Venezuela's oil production accounts for a very small percentage of global output (approximately 1%). Years of underinvestment mean it cannot quickly increase production and contribute to global supply in the short term. With Trump announcing that the US will "take over" Venezuela in the short term, the future of the new regime remains unclear. The impact on global markets will at most be reflected in the energy market. Of course, this event has broader geopolitical implications, but "in my view, financial markets are not efficient at accurately pricing this type of risk."

According to Sky News, British private equity firm Bridgepoint will acquire a stake in consultancy Interpath Advisory for £800 million.

January 5th - According to the China State Railway Group, during the New Year's Day holiday travel period (December 31, 2025 to January 4, 2026, a total of 5 days), the national railway system transported a total of 79.023 million passengers.

January 5th - Domestic refined oil prices will see their first adjustment this year at 24:00 on January 6th. According to Longzhong Information, due to the weakening trend of international crude oil prices during this adjustment cycle, the expected increase in refined oil prices when the adjustment window opens is around 30 yuan/ton, below the 50 yuan/ton adjustment threshold. Therefore, it is highly likely that this round of price adjustments will be suspended.

On January 5th, according to Qichacha APP, Xiaomi Automotive Technology Co., Ltd. recently published a patent application for "Fatigue Driving Intervention Method, Device, Vehicle, Equipment, Medium, and Chip." The patent abstract from Qichacha shows that this disclosure applies to smart cockpits. The method includes: acquiring multiple vehicle-side data from the vehicle's infotainment system and multiple driver data based on a driver's wearable device during driving; identifying the driver's fatigue status based on the multiple vehicle-side data and multiple driver data; and, in response to identifying the driver's fatigue state, performing fatigue driving intervention processing according to the driver's fatigue level. This improves the accuracy and precision of determining the driver's fatigue state in a driving environment. By implementing targeted fatigue driving intervention measures through the vehicle and wearable device, it enhances the effectiveness and proactiveness of fatigue driving intervention measures and optimizes the intervention effect.

The Singapore dollar fell to 1.2888 against the US dollar, its lowest level since December 22 last year.

On January 5th, Wang Changlin, Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, stated at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office that, looking towards the "15th Five-Year Plan," the innovation support system for the Yangtze River Economic Belt will be improved. This includes: first, promoting original scientific and technological innovation in the Yangtze River Economic Belt; second, advancing innovation and entrepreneurship to cultivate more innovative enterprises; and third, improving the innovation system and ecosystem to allow the seeds of innovation and entrepreneurship to grow into towering trees.

On January 5th, the Guangdong Provincial Government website published the "Implementation Opinions of the General Office of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the Guangdong Provincial Government on Promoting High-Quality Development of Digital Trade and Service Trade through High-Level Opening-up." The document mentions relaxing market access in the service trade sector. It calls for deepening the comprehensive pilot program for expanding the opening-up of the service industry in Guangzhou and the pilot program for expanding the opening-up of value-added telecommunications services in Shenzhen, supporting Shenzhen in carrying out a new round of comprehensive pilot programs for expanding the opening-up of the service industry, and accelerating the implementation of policies on foreign investment access and operation in the fields of medical care, elderly care, tourism, telecommunications, and culture. It supports the Nansha, Qianhai, and Hengqin Free Trade Zones in expanding the opening-up pilot program in the field of biotechnology, and promotes the pilot programs for wholly foreign-owned hospitals in Guangzhou and Shenzhen. It encourages foreign investors to legally establish for-profit and non-profit elderly care institutions in Guangdong. It also strengthens the construction of universities cooperating with foreign countries and between the mainland and Hong Kong and Macao, as well as schools and classes for children of foreign nationals and Hong Kong and Macao students.

According to Nikkei, Honda plans to resume production at its three joint venture factories with Guangzhou Automobile Group on January 19.

Samsung co-CEO: Soaring memory chip prices will have an "inevitable" impact on smartphone prices.

Samsung co-CEO: Samsung mobile devices equipped with Google Gemini AI will reach 800 million units this year.

Samsung co-CEO: Memory chip shortage is "unprecedented" and "extremely severe".