Market sentiment is warming up! On Thursday morning, as tensions between the United States and Europe surrounding Greenland eased, Asia-Pacific stock markets collectively rose. Among them, South Korea's KOSPI index surged over 2% intraday, breaking through the 5000-point milestone for the first time and setting a new historical high. As of this writing, Japan's Nikkei 225 index was up over 1%, and South Korea's KOSPI index gained 1.49%. Overnight, the U.S. stock market saw a broad-based rally, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Nasdaq Composite, and the S&P 500 all posting gains exceeding 1%, while technology stocks collectively advanced. Simultaneously, safe-haven demand cooled off, leading to a sharp decline in the prices of gold and silver. Spot gold fell by over 1% at one point, and spot silver dropped by more than 2%. As of the reporter's deadline, the losses for both spot gold and silver had narrowed somewhat. Global markets are trending higher. During the morning session on January 22nd, South Korean stocks surged significantly, with the KOSPI index rising over 2% at its peak, reaching a high of 5019.54 points. As of this report, the index was up 1.49% to 4983 points. In terms of individual stocks, Hyundai Motor rose over 4%, SK Hynix gained 2.5%; Samsung Electronics climbed over 3%, with its share price hitting a new record high; LG Group and Hanmi Semiconductor both advanced over 1%. Japanese stock markets also experienced substantial gains, with the Nikkei 225 index rising over 1% and the TOPIX index increasing by 0.91%. Chip-related stocks saw significant increases, with Kioxia Holdings up over 6%, Rohm Semiconductor rising over 4%, and Advantest gaining over 3%. Among other individual stocks, Mitsubishi Motors, Panasonic, Nikon, and Mazda Motor all rose over 2%, while SoftBank Group increased nearly 2%; Disco Corp's stock surged over 12% after its third-quarter operating profit exceeded market expectations. Data released by Japan's Ministry of Finance on Thursday showed that Japan's overall exports in December increased by 5.1% year-on-year, a growth rate lower than analysts had anticipated. Currently, the market widely expects the Bank of Japan to keep interest rates unchanged this Friday, following its rate hike in December last year. The Bank of Japan has previously indicated it will continue raising interest rates as long as price and economic growth trends align with its projections. Overnight, the three major U.S. stock indices all closed higher. At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.21% to 49,077 points; the S&P 500 rose 1.16% to 6,876 points; and the Nasdaq Composite increased 1.18% to 23,225 points. Most major technology stocks strengthened, with Intel surging over 11%, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) up over 7%, and Tesla Motors (TSLA) and NVIDIA both gaining nearly 3%. Memory-related concept stocks rallied sharply, with SanDisk up over 10%, Western Digital rising over 8%, Micron Technology gaining over 6%, and Seagate Technology increasing over 5%. Trump: Will Not Use Force to "Take the Island," Stocks Will Double U.S. President Donald Trump stated on social media on the 21st (local time) that he had formulated a framework with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte for a future agreement concerning Greenland; therefore, the planned tariff increases on eight European countries scheduled for February 1st would not be implemented. Trump also stated he would not use military force to seize Greenland. According to CCTV News, on the 21st, during a bilateral meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Trump said, "The military option is not on the table. I really don't think it's necessary. I believe all parties will exercise better judgment." This marks his reiteration, regarding the Greenland issue, of ruling out the possibility of using force. Fawad Razaqzada, a Global Macro Market Analyst at FOREX.com, said Trump's statements allowed the market to "breathe a sigh of relief." However, the analyst added: "Caution remains the prevailing theme. After all, the Trump administration will continue to 'weaponize' tariff policy to achieve the same outcomes." On the 21st (local time), Trump delivered a speech and participated in a discussion with a moderator at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. That same day, he also posted numerous messages on social media. Trump projected that U.S. economic growth for the fourth quarter of last year would be 5.4%, stating that the recent decline in U.S. stocks was insignificant compared to previous gains and that markets would double in the future; the U.S. is "vigorously developing" nuclear energy and has signed directives approving multiple nuclear reactors. Additionally, Trump reiterated his demand for Congress to set a cap on credit card interest rates at 10% for one year; he believes economic growth and tariffs will help the U.S. repay its debt. In his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump also discussed the Federal Reserve. Trump indicated that his nominee for Fed Chair would be a man. Trump said: "I will be announcing a new Fed chairman in the near future. He will be a man. I think he will do a fantastic job, will be a highly respected person." Furthermore, Trump added: "The interviews with every candidate for Fed chairman were excellent. But the problem is, once they take the position of Fed chairman, they change their stance, which is somewhat disloyal. It's amazing how much people change once they get the Fed chairmanship. In any case, Fed Chair Powell has been too slow to act on interest rates. I hope the new Fed chairman does his job properly." In his latest round of criticism targeting Powell, Trump hinted that if Powell remains on the Federal Reserve Board after his term as chair ends, he might not enjoy his tenure. "We'll see how things go," Trump said. But when pressed on whether Powell could potentially remain a Fed governor until 2028 after his chair term ends, Trump, who is currently selecting the next chair, warned: "If that were the case, I don't think his life would be very, very happy." In the selection process led by U.S. Treasury Secretary (presumably referring to a senior official), external observers widely believe the final candidates include Rick Rieder of BlackRock, White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller, and former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh. Hassett was once seen as the frontrunner for the next Fed Chair, but Trump expressed concern last week, suggesting that moving Hassett to the Fed might weaken the administration's voice on key economic policies. He reiterated this view on Wednesday.
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