The first few days of 2026 have felt more like a Tom Clancy novel than a standard trading week as sovereign interests and industrial consolidation collided across the board. While the world watched Mar-a-Lago for back-channel diplomacy, the real action was unfolding in strategic mineral basins and the boardrooms of Silicon Valley. All the top moves, shakes, and high-stakes power plays from Azze
The commodities landscape has transitioned from a speculative "green transition" narrative into a raw, structural supercycle of supply versus demand led by the growing artificial intelligence boom. Easy gains from the early 2020s have been replaced by acute supply-side fragility and a relentless demand pull from two primary forces: Massive electrification of the global energy grid, andExponenti
The Australian sharemarket closed higher on Friday with uranium stocks climbing during the first trading day of 2026. The ASX 200 finished at 8,727.80, up 0.2% on the day, as six of the ASX’s 11 sectors rose, led by an 0.8% increase in energy stocks. Uranium producers saw major gains, with Deep Yellow shares rising 6% and Paladin Energy climbing 6.2%. Boss Energy’s shares were also up 6.5
Gold prices increased during Friday’s Asian session following a 65% surge across 2025. Spot gold was up 1.1% to US$4,374.84 per ounce by 3:15 pm AEDT. Last year, gold prices saw their largest annual gains since 1979, and reached $4,500 for the first time. Silver prices rose 3.1% to $73.48, after posting their largest-single day decline in almost five years on Monday (Tuesday AEDT). Silver pr
Australian superannuation funds generated a 9.1% return for median balanced options in the accumulation phase in 2025, according to SuperRatings estimates. This was more than the long-term average of 7.1%, the super research house said in a media release. Funds continued to strongly benefit from international share exposure as the key driver of performance although all asset classes were exp
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Australian property values reached a four year high in 2025 but December saw a sluggish end to the year. New numbers from Cotality found that 2025 was the strongest calendar year gain in Australian home values since 2021 when prices were lifted 24.5% by record purchasing activity and emergency low interest rates amidst the COVID pandemic. Year-over-year price growth for 2025 at the peak was
Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Friday during 2026’s first day of trading, following a slump on Wall Street. By 12:20 pm AEDT (1:20 am GMT), Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was flat at 8,713.60 points, South Korea’s Kospi 200 rose 0.7% to 610.05 while the Tokyo Stock Exchange was closed until 5 January. All three markets were closed on Thursday for New Year’s Day. The ASX was largely flat on New
United States stock futures declined on Wednesday evening (Thursday AEDT) in 2025’s final day of trading. S&P 500 futures fell 0.7% to 6,893.75 points, Dow Jones futures decreased 0.6% to 48,351.00 and Nasdaq futures were down 0.9% to 25,434.75. During the day’s trading session, the S&P 500 dropped 0.7%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.8%. All
Japan-based global investment giant SoftBank has closed out 2025 with a 'definitive strike' - in the context of the global artificial intelligence arms race - finalising its US$40 billion cash investment into OpenAI. The transaction, confirmed on New Year’s Eve, reportedly pushes OpenAI’s valuation toward the $500 billion mark and signals a pivot for SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son from portfoli
United States benchmark averages closed lower on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT), but the major indices ended 2025 at least 13% higher. The S&P 500 shed 0.7% to 6,845.50 points, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.6% to 48,063.29 and the Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.8% to 23,241.99. Across 2025, the S&P 500 was up 16.4%, the Dow gained 13.0% and the Nasdaq rose 20.5%. The S&P 500 had increase