TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsPrecious metals fall again, Asian stocks swing as traders wind down
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
An employee displays gold bullion on Oct. 15, 2025, at the Setiabudi One Antam Gold Boutique in Jakarta. (Antara/Reno Esnir)
P
recious metals extended losses Tuesday on profit-taking after hitting recent records, while equities fluctuated in quiet trade as investors wound down ahead of the New Year break.
Traders were taking it easy in the last few days of 2025 following a stellar 12 months that have seen tech firms push several stock markets to all-time highs, while bitcoin, gold and silver have also enjoyed multiple peaks.
Minutes from the Federal Reserve's most recent policy meeting -- at which it cut interest rates a third straight time -- are due to be released later in the day and will be scanned for an idea about whether a fourth can be expected in January.
The US central bank's monetary easing in the back end of this year has been a key driver of the markets' rally, compounding a surge in the tech sector on the back of the vast amounts of cash pumped into all things AI.
It has also helped offset recent worries about a possible tech bubble and warnings that traders might not see a return on their investments in artificial intelligence for some time.
Still, Asian markets have enjoyed a healthy year, with Seoul's Kospi piling on more than 75 percent and Tokyo's Nikkei 225 more than 25 percent -- both having hit records earlier in the year.
Still, both edged down Tuesday, with Shanghai, Sydney and Taipei also lower. Hong Kong, Singapore, Wellington and Jakarta rose.
The mixed performance followed losses for all three main indexes on Wall Street.
The big moves of late have been seen in precious metals, with gold hitting a record just shy of $4,550. Silver, meanwhile, topped out at $84 after soaring around 150 percent this year.
Investors have been piling into the commodities on bets for more US rate cuts, a weaker dollar and geopolitical tensions.
Silver has also been boosted by increased central bank purchases and supply concerns.
However, both metals have pulled back sharply this week on profit-taking, with gold now around $4,340 and silver at $73.50.
Oil dipped, having jumped more than two percent Monday when investors rowed back bets on peace talks to end Russia's war with Ukraine as a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky ended with little progress.
That surge followed Friday's similar-sized rally on optimism for a breakthrough to end the nearly four-year conflict.
An end to the war could see sanctions on Russian oil removed, which would see a huge fresh supply hit the market.
Bitcoin, which has tumbled since spiking above $126,000 in October, was stabilizing just below $90,000 after a shaky end to the year.
