Business
Gold, silver hit records as oil falls – SUCH TV
Wall Street stock indices pulled back from records on Wednesday ahead of key US labor data, while oil prices fell further after US President Donald Trump said Venezuela would turn over millions of barrels to the United States.
Both the Dow and S&P 500 retreated from Tuesday’s all-time records as markets digested reports showing a fall in US job openings in November and a lower-than-expected rise in private-sector hiring in December.
More upbeat was a services sector survey by the Institute for Supply Management that showed healthier growth in December compared with November.
The jobs data was not great, but did not “trigger changes to perceptions about future Fed rate cuts,” said Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers.
“We attempted to follow through from the rallies of the last couple of days, and so far we haven’t been able to,” Sosnick said.
The Dow finished down 0.9 percent, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.3 percent after both indices surged to new peaks amid bullish investor sentiment to start the 2026 trading year. The tech-focused Nasdaq edged up 0.2 percent.
Futures markets expect the Fed to hold interest rates steady later this month, but concerns of a sharp slowdown in hiring could prompt a rethink.
Analysts say Friday’s Labor Department report for December will be a critical input to the US central bank.
In Europe, Frankfurt hit a record high above 25,000 points.
Paris traded flat and London slid from a record high set on Tuesday as lower oil prices dragged on British heavyweights BP and Shell, which both fell more than three percent.
Both main oil contracts dropped on Wednesday, having already lost ground a day earlier, after Trump’s latest statement on Venezuela.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Wednesday that Washington will control sales of Venezuelan oil “indefinitely”.
Venezuela’s state petroleum firm said only that it was negotiating the sale of crude oil to the United States.
Analysts said the shipments lowered the risk that Caracas would have to cut output owing to its limited storage capacity, easing supply concerns.
But they added that the outlook for the commodity pointed to lower prices, as the market remains well stocked after OPEC+ agreed to boost output.
Elsewhere, US defense stocks tumbled after Trump threatened to cap executive pay at major US defense contractors and ban shareholder dividends and stock buybacks.
Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and RTX all lost 2.5 percent or more.
Shares in Warner Bros. Discovery edged higher after its board urged shareholders to reject an improved hostile takeover bid by rival Paramount, saying it was still inferior to Netflix’s offer.
Shares in Netflix rose a scant 0.1 percent while Paramount fell 0.9 percent.
Key figures at around 2130 GMT
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 2.0 percent at $55.99 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.2 percent at $59.96 per barrel
New York – Dow: DOWN 0.9 percent at 48,996.08 (close)
New York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.3 percent at 6,920.93 (close)
New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 23,584.28 (close)
London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.7 percent at 10,048.21 (close)
Paris – CAC 40: FLAT at 8,233.92 (close)
Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.9 percent at 25,122.26 (close)
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.1 percent at 51,961.98 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.9 percent at 26,458.95 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 4,085.77 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1682 from $1.1689 on Tuesday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3463 from $1.3501
Dollar/yen: UP at 156.77 yen from 156.65 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 86.76 pence from 86.57 pence
The price of gold has soared to a new record high as concerns about fresh threats to the independence of the US central bank fuel demand for the asset.
The metal climbed by around 2% on Monday morning to a high of 4,600 US dollars (£3,415) per ounce, beating a previous record set in late December.
Rising gold prices typically indicate that investors are seeking out so-called safe haven assets.
These tend to carry less risk than other investments, such as stocks and shares, and often outperform financial markets during periods of turbulence.
Gold prices have shot up by about 70% over the past year, strengthening against broader economic and political uncertainty.
The latest rush to the precious metal came after US central bank chairman Jerome Powell said it was being threatened with a criminal indictment over his testimony about renovations at Federal Reserve office buildings.
It represents a significant escalation in President Donald Trump’s criticism of the Federal Reserve and its decisions not to cut interest rates as quickly as he would prefer.
Mr Powell said in a video statement that the threat of criminal charges undermined the Fed’s role and questioned whether monetary policy will in future be “directed by political pressure or intimidation”.
The news stoked fears that threats to the independence of the central bank were becoming more severe.
While gold prices soared, the US dollar was weakening against key currencies.
The pound was up by nearly 0.5% against the US dollar on Monday morning, to 1.346.
The euro was also up by about 0.4% against the US dollar, at 1.168.
Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, said Wall Street has been “rattled by what’s being viewed as another assault on the independence of the US Federal Reserve”.
“It certainly marks a sharp escalation in the Trump administration’s criticism of the Fed and is unnerving investors given that an independent central bank is considered to be crucial to maintaining sound monetary policy, especially at a time when the mounting US debt pile is coming under scrutiny,” she said.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said the dispute “represents a major crisis for markets and has the potential to restart worries about the dollar and US monetary policy”.
The UK’s FTSE 100 took a step back after enjoying a run in recent weeks, having hit new record highs and surpassing the milestone 10,000 mark for the first time.
It was more or less flat by mid-morning on Monday at about 10,123 points.
Barclays was among the biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 on Monday, with its share price down by about 2.5%.
The UK-listed bank has been caught up in the reaction to Mr Trump calling for a one-year cap of 10% on credit card interest rates.
The president said Americans were being “ripped off” by high interest rates on credit and they should be limited from January 20.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said Barclays was one of the largest issuers of credit cards in the US.
“While consumers would love to see lower rates on credit cards, Trump may not be able to enact such a move without approval from Congress,” he said.
“It also raises questions about the knock-on effect of a cap on credit and whether a drop in associated earnings for lenders could lead to reduced availability of credit in general, forcing some consumers and businesses to seek more costly alternatives.”
Laura CressTechnology reporter
SOPA Images via GettyOfcom has launched an investigation into Elon Musk’s X over concerns its AI tool Grok is being used to create sexualised images.
In a statement, the UK watchdog said there had been “deeply concerning reports” of the chatbot being used to create and share undressed images of people, as well as “sexualised images of children”.
If found to have broken the law, Ofcom can potentially issue X with a fine of up to 10% of its worldwide revenue or £18 million, whichever is greater.
X referred the BBC to a statement posted by its Safety account at the start of January: “Anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content.”.
Elon Musk later said the UK government wanted “any excuse for censorship” in response to a post questioning why other AI platforms were not being looked at.
The BBC has seen several examples of digitally altered images on X, in which women were undressed and put in sexual positions without their consent. One woman said more than 100 sexualised images have been created of her.
If X does not comply, Ofcom can seek a court order to force internet service providers to block access to the site in the UK altogether.
Technology Secretary Liz Kendall told the BBC she welcomed the body’s investigation and urged it to complete it as soon as possible.
“It is vital that Ofcom complete this investigation swiftly because the public – and most importantly the victims – will not accept any delay,” she said.
Kendall’s predecessor Peter Kyle told BBC Breakfast it was “appalling” that Grok had “not been tested appropriately”.
“The fact that I met just yesterday a Jewish woman who has found her image of herself in a bikini outside of Auschwitz being generated by AI and put online made me feel sick to my stomach,” he said.
Other MPs who have raised concerns include Northern Ireland politician Cara Hunter, who said she had decided to leave the platform.
Downing Street meanwhile said the government remains focused on “protecting children” but would keep its presence on X “under review”.
“I think we’ve been clear that all options are on the table,” the Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said.
‘Highest priority’
Ofcom will now examine whether X has failed to take down illegal content quickly when it became aware of it, and taken “appropriate steps” to prevent people in the UK from seeing it.
It said such illegal content included “non-consensual intimate images” and child sexual imagery.
It will also check whether X has used “highly effective age assurance” measures to stop children from seeing pornographic images.
The decision follows global backlash over Grok’s image creation feature, with both Malaysia and Indonesia temporarily blocking access to the tool over the weekend.
An Ofcom spokesperson did not give an indication on how long the investigation would take but said it would be a “matter of the highest priority”.
“Platforms must protect people in the UK from content that’s illegal in the UK,” they said.
“We won’t hesitate to investigate where we suspect companies are failing in their duties, especially where there’s a risk of harm to children.”
Lorna Woods, professor of internet law at Essex University, told the BBC it was “hard to predict” how quickly the investigation would move.
“Ofcom has a degree of choice in how fast – or slow – they take the investigation,” she said.
She said the regulator could apply for a business disruption order – a court order to block access to X in the UK – straight away rather than as a last resort, but only in “rare circumstances” in response to an ongoing problem.
People shop at a mall decorated with holiday lights in Manhattan on Dec. 18, 2025 in New York City.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
Some retailers provided early holiday results on Monday that showed the crucial shopping season was solid, but didn’t blow away expectations.
Lululemon, which is preparing for a new CEO and staring down a proxy battle with its founder, said in a release it expects its holiday quarter to be “toward the high end” of its previously released guidance. Shoe maker Birkenstock and thrift store Savers Value Village also released lackluster early holiday results.
Lululemon said it expects fiscal fourth quarter revenue to be close to $3.60 billion and earnings to be close to $4.76 per share. Both figures are at the high end of the guidance the company released in December when it announced fiscal third-quarter earnings.
It made no changes to its previous guidance for gross margin, effective tax rate and selling, general and administrative expenses.
Shares were slightly higher in premarket trading.
“We remain focused on executing our action plan to drive improvement in our U.S. business and look forward to the opportunities in front of us,” finance chief Meghan Frank said in a statement.
When announcing last quarter’s earnings on Dec. 11, outgoing CEO Calvin McDonald said the company was “encouraged” by its early holiday performance but acknowledged wide discounting had driven demand during the Thanksgiving holiday period. When the shopping stretch ended, trends slowed, he said at the time.
Like other higher-end brands, Lululemon has historically been very selective with discounts, but it has used them more liberally in recent quarters to offload old merchandise and styles that weren’t resonating with shoppers.
During its fiscal third quarter, margins fell by 2.9 percentage points, due primarily to higher tariffs and the bigger markdowns, it said at the time.
Birkenstock, which didn’t provide specific holiday-quarter guidance last year, said it expects sales in the quarter ended Dec. 31 to grow 11% to €402 million ($470 million). The results appeared to disappoint investors, with shares falling about 3% in premarket trading.
Savers Value Village saw sales grow 8.4% during its holiday quarter, with comparable sales up 5.4%, excluding the impact of an extra week the company had in its calendar. Despite relatively strong growth, the company only reaffirmed its fiscal 2025 adjusted net income and EBITDA outlooks. Shares were slightly higher in premarket trading.
The early results, which were announced ahead of the annual ICR conference in Orlando, Florida, show what many analysts had expected for the holiday shopping season. Wall Street largely anticipated results would be solid, but they wouldn’t show massive gains in consumer spending.
The National Retail Federation previously forecasted retail sales in November and December would rise between 3.7% and 4.2% compared to 2024. That’s solid growth, but when higher prices from tariffs are taken into account, some analysts expect volume growth to be largely flat.
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