Fashion
Silver tops $75 as gold and platinum surge to records
By
Reuters
Published
December 26, 2025
Silver hit $75 for the first time on Friday, with gold and platinum too striking record highs, as speculative bets, expectations for more US rate cuts, and rising geopolitical tensions powered precious metals.
Spot gold rose 0.8% to $4,515.73 per ounce, as of 0818 GMT, after touching a record $4,530.60 earlier. US gold futures for February delivery climbed 0.9% to $4,545.10. Spot silver jumped 3.8% to $74.68 per ounce, after touching an all-time high of $75.14.
“Momentum-driven and speculative players have been powering the rally in gold and silver since early December, with thin year-end liquidity, expectations of prolonged US rate cuts, a weaker dollar, and a flare-up in geopolitical risks combining to push precious metals to fresh record highs,” said Kelvin Wong, senior market analyst at OANDA.
“Looking ahead into the first half of 2026, gold could move towards the $5,000 level, while silver has the potential to reach around $90,” said Wong.
Gold staged a strong rally this year, recording its biggest annual gain since 1979, fuelled by Federal Reserve policy easing, geopolitical uncertainty, strong central bank demand, rising ETF holdings, and ongoing de-dollarisation. Meanwhile, gold discounts in India hit a more than six-month high as record prices curbed retail buying, while China’s discounts retreated from last week’s five-year peak.
Silver soared 158% year-to-date, outpacing gold’s nearly 72% gain, on structural deficits, its listing as a US critical mineral, and robust industrial demand. With traders pricing in two US rate cuts next year, non-yielding assets like gold are likely to remain well-supported in a low-interest-rate environment.
On the geopolitical front, the US is focusing on enforcing a “quarantine” of Venezuelan oil for the next two months. On Thursday, it struck Islamic State militants in northwest Nigeria over attacks on local Christian communities.
Spot platinum rose 5.8% to $2,349.65 per ounce, after touching an all-time high of $2,448.25 earlier, while palladium climbed 7% to $1,801.25, following a three-year high in the previous session. All precious metals were headed for weekly gains.
Platinum and palladium, widely used in automotive catalytic converters, have surged on tight supply, tariff uncertainty, and rotation from gold investment demand, with platinum up roughly 160% and palladium more than 90% year-to-date. “Platinum prices are being supported by strong industrial demand, and stockists in the US have been covering positions amid sanctions-related concerns, which is helping keep prices elevated,” said Jigar Trivedi, senior research analyst at Reliance Securities, based in Mumbai.
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Vietnam remains the fastest-growing major economy, with growth forecast at 7.4 per cent in 2025, while Indonesia is expected to maintain steady growth around 5-5.1 per cent. Cambodia and the Philippines are expected to post resilient growth near 5 per cent, while Thailand and Singapore face slower momentum.
For 2026, ASEAN’s GDP growth is projected at 4.4 per cent. Vietnam is forecast to grow at a solid 6.4 per cent, while Indonesia is expected to maintain stable growth at 5.1 per cent. The Philippines is projected to expand by 5.3 per cent, Cambodia by 5 per cent, and Malaysia by 4.3 per cent. Thailand and Singapore are expected to see slower growth of 1.6 per cent and 2.1 per cent respectively. Inflation pressures are projected to remain elevated in Laos and Myanmar, though easing compared with 2025.
ASEAN’s 2025 growth forecast has been lowered to 4.5 per cent as global uncertainty persists, with inflation easing before rising slightly in 2026.
Vietnam leads regional growth.
Trade momentum is slowing after front-loading effects fade, but strong FDI inflows and deeper regional integration continue to support ASEAN’s medium-term economic outlook.
ASEAN’s merchandise trade showed strong momentum in 2024, expanding 8.8 per cent to reach $3.8 trillion, driven by sustained demand from major trading partners, particularly China and the United States. In the first half of 2025, merchandise trade surged 17.4 per cent due to export front-loading ahead of tariff hikes. However, trade prospects for the second half of 2025 and early 2026 are expected to weaken as these one-off effects taper off and external vulnerabilities intensify, as per the brief.
Foreign direct investment trends remain a bright spot for the region. While global FDI rose modestly by 3.7 per cent in 2024—largely influenced by volatile financial conduit flows—ASEAN recorded a stronger 8.7 per cent increase in inflows to $230.8 billion. Key recipients included Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. In the first half of 2025, ASEAN’s FDI inflows rose a further 12.7 per cent, contrasting with a 3 per cent decline in global FDI, signalling sustained investor confidence in the region.
Looking ahead, ASEAN continues to be viewed as an attractive investment destination, with 60 per cent of firms surveyed by Boston Consulting Group indicating plans to invest in the region within the next 12 months. To sustain this momentum, ASEAN is strengthening credibility, capability, and compliance through deeper regional integration.
The ongoing implementation of the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement, the ASEAN Trade in Services Agreement, and the upgraded ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement is expected to enhance transparency, resilience, and competitiveness, reinforcing ASEAN’s position as a single market and integrated production base, the brief added.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (SG)
By
DPA
Published
December 26, 2025
The Swiss investor Arklyz has acquired the German shoe brand Gabor. The company, based in Stans on Lake Lucerne, did not disclose the purchase price. All regulatory approvals have been obtained, according to the press release.
Previously owned by the eponymous founding family and headquartered in Rosenheim, the shoemaker is best known for its women’s footwear. The company is now wholly owned by Arklyz. The Gabor brand will be retained, and the current management team will remain in place.
Arklyz is an investment holding company founded in 2018 that is primarily active in the sports, clothing, and footwear sectors. Arklyz also acquired a German shoe brand last year: Lloyd, based in Sulingen, Lower Saxony.
Headquarters in Bavaria, production abroad
The precursor to today’s Gabor Shoes was a shoe workshop founded in 1919 in what is now Polish Upper Silesia; the company has been based in Rosenheim since 1966. According to the company’s website, Gabor is one of Europe’s largest shoe manufacturers.
In 2023, the company employed just under 2,630 people. Of these, only 366 were based in Germany; the majority worked in two shoe factories in Slovakia and Portugal. According to the German company register, Gabor posted a net profit of 13.4 million euros in 2023, with revenue totalling 282 million euros.
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Published
December 26, 2025
Thermore, a manufacturer of thermal insulation for clothing, is making inroads in the fashion industry. “We started out in the technical segment. Synthetic insulation was initially used in ski suits. As style evolved, fashion embraced technical materials, and today it represents the largest share of our business,” CEO Patrizio Lorenzo Siniscalchi tells FashionNetwork.com.
The company, founded in Milan by his father, Lucio, in 1972, has evolved into the sector’s first ingredient brand and today supplies down-free insulation to a wide range of fashion and luxury labels. Under the leadership of Siniscalchi Jr., it has strengthened its relationship with end consumers, who are increasingly discerning. “When we develop a new insulation product, we don’t think about our direct customer, but about the end user,” the CEO notes.
The latest collaboration is with Jaked, featuring Thermore insulation in the brand’s new outerwear collection for the Autumn/Winter 2025 season. The Impact Evo jackets, designed for racing, fitness, and sportswear, blend style and functionality, leveraging Ecodown Fibers Ocean technology, which is bluesign and OEKO-TEX certified.
Today, Thermore generates revenue of 13 million euros, with the US and Europe as its main markets. “Around 10% of sales come from Asia, primarily Korea and Japan. We have offices in New York and Tokyo. Around 90% of production is in the Far East, because insulated garments are manufactured there,” Siniscalchi continues.
On the pressing issue of the impact of fast fashion, “there needs to be a change. We must be more mindful of our consumption,” notes the CEO. “We do not use down, but recycled fibres from ocean-bound bottles, thereby helping to prevent the formation of massive plastic islands in the ocean. We have been investing in this for 40 years. We launched our first recycled product in the 1980s. At the beginning, it was difficult to find raw materials with the same quality as virgin polyester. Today, 98% of our insulation is made from recycled material. The chips used to make PET bottles are better than those used for fibres,” Siniscalchi concludes.
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