Stock market, gold, and silver all surged across the board; the Nikkei index once soared by 800 points! Trump announces!

[Introduction] Stock Market, Gold, and Silver All Rally Across the Board

Hello everyone, today’s market is recovering across the board, with gold and silver prices rising once again, and the Nikkei index soaring by 800 points at one point.

Nikkei Surge

On February 18th, Japan’s stock market surged, with the Nikkei index soaring by 800 points at one point.

According to news reports, based on a trade agreement reached with Trump, Japan plans to invest up to $36 billion in U.S. oil, natural gas, and critical mineral projects, marking the first installment of its $550 billion investment commitment.

Trump posted on social media: “Our massive trade agreement with Japan has just been launched! The scale of these projects is so large that it cannot be achieved without a very special word—‘tariffs’.”

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Sato stated that these projects aim to build resilient supply chains by cooperating in areas vital to economic security, including critical minerals, energy, and artificial intelligence. She wrote, “We believe this initiative fully aligns with its core objectives: promoting mutually beneficial Japan-U.S. relations, ensuring economic security, and fostering economic growth.”

According to a statement from U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, the most significant investment is a natural gas facility located in Ohio, expected to generate 9.2 gigawatts (GW) of electricity. Trump called this large-scale project “the largest project in history.”

A briefing from the U.S. Department of Commerce indicated that Japan is expected to invest up to $33 billion in this plant, led by a subsidiary of SoftBank Group. Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry also listed SoftBank as a participating company.

Japanese Trade Minister Akira Aizawa said Wednesday that Toshiba and Hitachi have also expressed interest in participating. When fully operational, the plant’s power output would be equivalent to nine nuclear reactors, enough to supply approximately 7.4 million households.

The second project is a deepwater crude oil export facility in the Gulf of Mexico (Texas GulfLink). This $2.1 billion investment will be operated by Sentinel Midstream, with an expected annual export value of up to $30 billion in U.S. crude oil.

Japan will also invest $600 million in a synthetic industrial diamond manufacturing plant in Georgia. These diamonds are key industrial inputs for semiconductors, automotive, and energy sectors.

In addition to the Japanese stock market, U.S. major stock index futures and FTSE China A50 futures also saw short-term gains!

Gold and Silver Surge

On the 18th, gold and silver prices began to rise again. In the previous two trading days, affected by a strengthening dollar, gold prices fell by over 3%.

Several banks, including BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, and Goldman Sachs, forecast that gold prices will resume an upward trend, as the factors supporting previous steady increases remain in place. These factors include escalating geopolitical tensions, capital withdrawal from sovereign bonds and currencies, and concerns over the independence of the Federal Reserve.

In the short term, investors will look for clues about U.S. monetary policy from statements by Fed officials and the minutes of the January meeting released later on Wednesday. At the January meeting, policymakers chose to keep interest rates steady. The possibility of rate cuts will be a positive factor for non-yielding precious metals—last Friday, moderate inflation data strengthened the case for lowering borrowing costs, and gold prices briefly rebounded.

Fed Governor Michael Barr said Tuesday that interest rates should “remain stable for a period of time” until officials see more evidence that inflation is moving toward the Fed’s 2% target. Meanwhile, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans indicated that if inflation continues to move toward that target, further rate cuts could be possible this year.

(Source: China Fund News)