Asia

Following news last week of a surge in Chinese retail gold premiums as demand for physical bullion soars amid China capital controls, Reuters reports that the chaos in India has sent people rushing to buy gold, paying as much as a 50 percent premium above official India prices. This renewed surge in demand for physical in india follows reports that India's top importer of gold, Axis Bank, reportedly suspending the bank accounts of some bullion dealers and jewelers following the arrest of some executives over money laundering.

“In my view, the Trump election has made a large Chinese devaluation more likely. Mainland Chinese investors are desperately trying to get out of the Yuan, and the People’s Bank of China is trying to defend the value of the Yuan. They are doing this by selling treasuries.”

       - Russell Clark, Horseman Global

Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger has warned against pre-judging the president elect, telling critics to judge Trump on his policies, rather than his rhetoric. He said that the personality of Donald Trump has “no precedent” in modern US history, but he should be given a chance to put forward his policies.

With oil prices surging to 17-month highs following this weekend's OPEC-NOPEC deal and Saudi promises to cut still more, many Wall Street analysts are skpetical with Goldman Sachs warning that the Saudis are wrong to think U.S. shale production won’t respond to higher prices. However, Nomura and Bernstein see little threat to OPEC from rising U.S. shale production in 2017.

Prices spiked...

• Crude Soars as Output Deal Weighs on Bonds; China Shares Tumble (BBG)
• 10-Year Treasury Yield Above 2.5% for First Time in Two Years (WSJ)
• The New Reality of TV: All Trump, All the Time (NYT)
• Fed May Struggle to Signal What Comes After December (WSJ)
• China warns Trump against ignoring its Taiwan interests (Reuters)
• China’s Stocks, Bonds, Yuan Slump in Unison on Liquidity Concern (BBG)
• Sovereign funds pulled cash from world markets for third year running (Reuters)
• Trump Adds To Criticism Of Companies (WSJ)