#precious-metals

#precious-metals

U.S. stocks are rising at the open led by technology and energy stocks. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% early Monday and the Nasdaq composite added 0.7%. The Dow gained 330 points, or 0.7%. The price of U.S. crude oil gained 1% after U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a weekend raid. Shares of Chevron and ConocoPhillips jumped after President Donald Trump floated a plan for U.S. oil companies to help rebuild Venezuela's oil industry.

Yields were lower Monday across the Treasury curve as buyers returned from the holiday, looking to grab bonds, especially longer-dated maturities. Despite bond traders preparing for a heavy schedule of U.S. Treasury debt auctions throughout the holiday-shortened week, which tends to increase bond supply and push prices down, the opposite happened Monday. The 30-year-long bond closed trading at 4.80%. In comparison, the benchmark 10-year note was last seen at 4.11%.

The latest rally came after the U.S. launched strikes on Islamic State targets in Nigeria on Thursday, adding to other geopolitical tensions. Earlier in the week, the Trump administration continued to pile on more pressure on Venezuela by targeting additional oil tankers, squeezing a key source of revenue for the Maduro regime. Meanwhile, the Pentagon sent large numbers of special-operations aircraft, troops and gear into the Caribbean, sources told the Wall Street Journal.

European markets have entered the final full week of 2025 on a largely tepid tone with many easing back ahead of a shortened week that looks likely to see lower volume and lower volatility. Coming off the back of a period that has seen a raft of big-ticket, market-moving events, traders are expecting things to calm down towards year-end. Today's notable release in Europe saw UK GDP confirmed at 0.1% for the third quarter. This lays the groundwork for tomorrow's US GDP release.

Another holiday-shortened trading week begins today, and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF ( NYSEMKT: VOO) is feeling the Christmas spirit. The ETF opened up 0.6% Monday. Helping to fuel the rally is again Nvidia ( Nasdaq: NVDA), which plans to begin shipments of its H200 AI chip to China in February. Initial orders are said to total anywhere from 40,000 to 80,000 H200 chips.

Global markets are nearing the year-end with striking contrasts across major asset classes, shaped by shifting rate expectations, geopolitical uncertainty, and uneven economic momentum. Nowhere was this divergence more evident than in the performance of commodities, oil, and global equities. Gold led with a gain of more than 60%, its strongest annual advance in over a decade, while silver outperformed even that, surging nearly 100% over the year. Both precious metals benefited from expectations of global monetary easing, persistent geopolitical tensions,

"These are seasoned criminals," he said.

"I use debt as money and I don't save cash because in 1971 the dollar became debt," he added, referring to the Nixon shock, where the former president ended the convertibility of the US dollar into gold, devalued the currency, and ultimately, led to the rise of cryptocurrencies. Instead, Kiyosaki uses debt to buy assets, like gold, which can withstand market crashes and spiraling inflation-unlike cash saved in the bank. "If I go bust, the bank goes bust," he added. "Not my problem."