Today's News Update - 20th Jan 2025 Asia Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Friday as investors reacted to Chinese economic data. China's economy grew 5% in 2024, with Q4 GDP up 5.4%. December retail sales rose 3.7%, and industrial output grew 6.2%, both surpassing expectations. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.21%, while mainland’s CSI 300 rose 0.31%. The offshore yuan strengthened 0.06% to 7.3419. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.31%, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.2%. US Stocks rose on Friday, with all three major indices notching their first weekly gain of the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 334.70 points, or 0.78%, closing at 43,487.83. The S&P 500 rose 1% to 5,996.66, while the Nasdaq Composite increased 1.51% to 19,630.20. Big tech stocks saw notable gains, with Tesla rising 3%, Nvidia jumping 3.1%, and Alphabet adding over 1%. Commodity Gold prices fell slightly on Friday due to a stronger U.S. dollar but remained on track for a weekly gain, staying above $2,700 amid uncertainty around President Trump’s policies and expectations of further rate cuts. Spot gold dropped 0.4% to $2,701.03, while U.S. futures edged 0.1% lower to $2,748.70. Oil prices declined slightly but recorded a fourth straight week of gains, boosted by concerns over U.S. sanctions on Russian energy. Brent crude fell 50 cents to $80.79, and WTI dropped 80 cents to $77.88, with both up more than 1% for the week. The above analysis is only for the views of market researchers and is for reference only and is not Regarded as a specific investment suggestion. #Forex #trading #tradingforex