Asian markets sink, silver hits record as Greenland fears mount

Asian markets extended losses Tuesday and silver hit a fresh peak on fears of a US-EU trade war fuelled by Donald Trump’s tariff threat over opposition to his grab for Greenland.After a bright start to the year fuelled by fresh hopes for the artificial intelligence sector, investors have taken fright since the US president ramped up his demands for the Danish autonomous territory, citing national security.With Copenhagen and other European capitals pushing back, Trump on Saturday said he would impose 10 percent levies on eight countries — including Denmark, France, Germany and Britain — from February 1, lifting them to 25 percent on June 1.The move has raised questions about the outlook for last year’s US-EU trade deal, while French President Emmanuel Macron has called for the deployment of a powerful, unused instrument aimed at deterring economic coercion.In response, US Treasury chief Scott Bessent said Monday that any retaliatory EU tariffs would be “unwise”.The prospect of another trade standoff between two of the world’s biggest economic powers has fuelled a rush to safety and dealt a blow to risk assets.After hefty selling in Europe, Asia equities extended losses.Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Manila and Wellington were all down.Silver hit another record high, touching $94.73 in Asian trade, while gold held just shy of its own peak hit Monday.Meanwhile, Treasury yields rose amid a move out of US assets fuelled by the uncertainty sparked by Trump’s latest volley.Japanese government bonds yields also rise, with that on the 40-year note hitting the highest since it was launched in 2007, after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called snap elections Monday and pledged to cut a tax on food for a two-year period.The announcement fuelled fresh worries the government will borrow more cash at a time when questions are already be asked about the country’s finances.Her cabinet approved a record 122.3-trillion-yen ($768 billion) budget for the fiscal year from April 2026, and she has vowed to get parliamentary approval as soon as possible to address rising prices and shore up the world’s fourth-largest economy.Eyes are now on Davos, Switzerland, where the US president is expected to give a speech to the World Economic Forum.”Davos now becomes the theatre that matters. Not for soundbites, but for whether the adults step back into the room,” wrote Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management.”If this turns sour, volatility will not stay bottled. What would normally be a Ukraine-focused week risks being hijacked by a far more destabilising question, namely, whether the transatlantic alliance is being stress-tested in public. “A NATO fracture, even a rhetorical one, is not something markets are trained to shrug off.”- Key figures at around 0230 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.2 percent at 52,931.11 (break)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.6 percent at 26,401.75Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.7 percent at 4,087.43Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1639 from $1.1641 on MondayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3417 from $1.3428Dollar/yen: UP at 158.15 yen from 158.09 yenEuro/pound: UP at 86.76 pence from 86.71 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.4 percent at $59.69 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.1 percent at $64.01 per barrelNew York – Dow: Closed for a holidayLondon – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.4 percent at 10,195.35 (close)

Blast at Chinese restaurant in Kabul kills 7

A blast at a Chinese restaurant in central Kabul on Monday killed at least seven people and wounded more than a dozen others, emergency services said. An AFP journalist saw police vehicles and an ambulance at the scene following the explosion on a street known for its flower sellers in the Shahr-e-Naw area.Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran said the explosion occurred at the Chinese Noodle restaurant, which he said mainly served Chinese Muslims. “A Chinese Muslim, Ayub, and six Afghans were killed, and several others were wounded. The blast occurred near the kitchen,” Zadran said in a statement.The police spokesman, who said the cause was under investigation, had earlier said the blast hit a hotel.The Islamic State armed group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement, the SITE Intelligence Group reported, saying it was a suicide attack targeting Chinese nationals.”The Islamic State in Afghanistan has placed Chinese nationals on its list of targets, especially in light of the escalating crimes committed by the Chinese government against the oppressed Uyghur Muslims,” the IS statement said.Italian NGO EMERGENCY said its hospital near the targeted restaurant had received “seven people dead on arrival”, with 13 others admitted to the surgical department.”Among the wounded are four women and a child,” Dejan Panic, the NGO’s country director, said in a statement.The owner of a flower shop, requesting anonymity for security reasons, said the blast happened at around 3:30 pm (1100 GMT) at the other end of the street from his business.He told AFP he heard the “strong sound” of a blast in the crowded area.”It was an emergency situation. Everybody feared for his own life,” he said.”I could see at least five wounded.”Within hours of the blast the street was reopened to traffic, with cars streaming past the restaurant’s covered entrance. Windows in the building opposite were smashed, according to an AFP photographer.Taliban officials have vowed to restore security to the country and are courting foreign investors to secure crucial revenue streams as foreign aid funding dries up.Chinese business visitors have flocked to Afghanistan since the Taliban government took power in 2021 for the second time. The following year, the Islamic State group claimed a deadly attack on a Kabul hotel popular with Chinese guests.China, which shares a rugged 76-kilometre (47-mile) border with Afghanistan, has close ties with the Taliban government. 

Warner hits ‘Sinners’ and ‘One Battle’ tipped for Oscar nominations

Warner Bros may be for sale, but the studio’s acclaimed hits “Sinners” and “One Battle After Another” are expected to dominate the Oscar nominations when the Academy announces its final contenders Thursday.Both are tipped to rack up a dozen or more nods for Hollywood’s grandest awards ceremony — from best picture and best actor to the new best casting prize.The rare and enviable position of a single Hollywood studio boasting the two clear Oscars frontrunners ironically comes in what could be Warner Bros’ swansong year as an independent distributor.Warner Bros is the target of a fierce bidding war between Paramount Skydance and Netflix.Yet despite the struggles of its parent company Warner Bros Discovery, the storied movie studio has enjoyed a banner year, bucking Tinseltown’s obsession with sequels and backing original fare from auteur filmmakers.”Sinners,” a blues-inflected period horror film about the segregated US South, comes from “Black Panther” director Ryan Coogler.It is expected to land a best actor nomination for Michael B. Jordan, who plays two twins battling vampires and racists in 1930s Mississippi, plus everything from screenplay to score.According to Variety awards expert Clayton Davis, “Sinners” could break the all-time record for most nominations by a single film — currently 14, by “All About Eve,” “Titanic” and “La La Land.”Coogler is “rewriting the math entirely,” and could enter “a statistical stratosphere no filmmaker has ever touched,” Davis wrote.But so far this awards season, Paul Thomas Anderson — whose formidable, eclectic filmography runs from “Boogie Nights” to “There Will Be Blood” — has won almost every prize going for “One Battle After Another.”A zany thriller about a retired revolutionary looking for his teen daughter against a wild backdrop of radical violence, immigration raids and white supremacists, it broke the all-time record for nominations by Hollywood’s actors guild.Former best actor Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio is all but certain to secure his seventh acting nomination from the Academy.Netflix has its own hopefuls in Guillermo del Toro’s monster horror flick “Frankenstein,” tragic Western pioneer drama “Train Dreams” and animated musical sensation “KPop Demon Hunters.”By contrast, rival Paramount’s awards hopefuls shelf is noticeably bare.- Best casting -“Hamnet,” a tragic literary adaptation that imagines William Shakespeare coping with the death of his son, is likely to land a bagful of nominations.Jessie Buckley, who plays the Bard’s long-suffering wife Agnes, appears a lock for a best actress nomination.She is likely to be joined by Emma Stone playing an alien — or is she? — in conspiracy theorist drama “Bugonia,” and Norwegian actress Renate Reinsve in arthouse darling “Sentimental Value.”With the Academy’s overseas voter base rapidly expanding, “Sentimental Value” is one of a trio of non-English-language films that could contend for best picture.Along with Persian-language Palme d’Or winner “It Was Just An Accident,” there is also Brazil’s “The Secret Agent,” though “space feels limited” for all three to make the list, wrote Davis.”The Secret Agent” star Wagner Moura, playing a scientist on the run from Brazil’s 1970s dictatorship, is expected to vie with DiCaprio and Jordan for best actor.But that category’s frontrunner is Timothee Chalamet, whose turn as a bratty, talented and fiercely ambitious ping pong player in 1950s New York in “Marty Supreme,” has already won a Golden Globe, a Critics Choice Award and more.This year sees the introduction of a new Oscar for best casting, honoring the experts who attach actors to projects long before future blockbusters or indie hits begin production.With no precedent, it is unclear what exactly voters will be looking for. “Is it star power? Ensemble cohesion? Finding a discovery?” asked Davis.The nominations will be unveiled Thursday at 5:30am (1330 GMT) in Los Angeles, with the 98th Oscars ceremony to follow on March 15.