By Stella Qiu SYDNEY, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Asian shares advanced on Tuesday as investors hoped for the best from a barrage of U.S. mega-cap earnings, though uncertainty caused by President Donald Trump’s latest tariff moves on South Korea limited broader gains while boosting gold and silver. Accusing South Korea's legislature of "not living up" to its trade deal with Washington, Trump said late on ...
By Stella Qiu SYDNEY, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Asian shares advanced on Tuesday as investors hoped for the best from a barrage of U.S. mega-cap earnings, though uncertainty caused by President Donald Trump’s latest tariff moves on South Korea limited broader gains while boosting gold and silver. Accusing South Korea's legislature of "not living up" to its trade deal with Washington, Trump said late on Monday he was increasing tariffs on imports from Asia's fourth-biggest economy into the U.S. such as autos, lumber and pharma to 25%. Stocks appeared to take the news in their stride, with Nasdaq futures up 0.2% as investors geared up for a slew of earnings from the so-called Magnificent Seven including the likes of Microsoft, Apple and Tesla from Wednesday. Even South Korea's KOSPI quickly reversed earlier losses to be last up 0.8%. Still, safe-haven gold climbed 1% to $5,066 an ounce, just shy of an all-time high of $5,110, while silver surged 6.4% to $110.60 an ounce, not far from a record of $117.70 just set on Monday. "The frenetic nature of uncertainty coupled with a weaker dollar have been the primary contributors to this latest leg higher (for gold)," said Christopher Louney, commodity strategist at RBC Capital Markets. "Similar major rallies of the past point to early September or mid-December based on duration alone. This means the current duration is by no means an outlier," he said, adding that gold could hit as high as $7,100/oz at year-end based on its 2025 performance. In Asia, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.4%. Japan's Nikkei was off 0.1%, tempered by the recent sharp rebound in the yen that has clouded the outlook for its vast export sector. Chinese blue-chips were flat, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 0.4%. Overnight, Wall Street rose for a fourth straight session, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hitting their highest level in more than a week. Much is riding on the earnings reports from U.S. tech giants, a...
Forget Bitcoin and Ethereum. These altcoins could deliver outsized gains to crypto investors in 2026. There's more to the crypto market than just Bitcoin (BTC +1.51%) and Ethereum (ETH +2.51%). While these two account for a combined 70% of the total value of the crypto market, there are literally hundreds of high-risk, high-upside cryptocurrencies that have the potential to outperform the two mark...
Forget Bitcoin and Ethereum. These altcoins could deliver outsized gains to crypto investors in 2026. There's more to the crypto market than just Bitcoin (BTC +1.51%) and Ethereum (ETH +2.51%). While these two account for a combined 70% of the total value of the crypto market, there are literally hundreds of high-risk, high-upside cryptocurrencies that have the potential to outperform the two market bellwethers. Three cryptocurrencies that I have my eye on in 2026 are XRP (XRP +1.78%), Solana (SOL +2.31%), and Chainlink (LINK +2.27%). All three have the potential to outperform Bitcoin and Ethereum this year to deliver outsized gains to investors. XRP In many ways, XRP is an obvious pick. It has gone on enormous rallies in the recent past, including an epic rally from November 2024 to January 2025 that saw XRP explode in price from $0.50 to $3.40. That's a staggering 580% gain in just 60 days! If anything, XRP is an even better investment this year than last year. That's because the long-running SEC case against Ripple, the company behind the XRP token, finally wrapped up in August. This new regulatory clarity has opened all sorts of new possibilities for Ripple (XRP). Case in point: Ripple sealed the deal on $2.5 billion in new blockchain acquisitions last year. In November, it also lined up $500 million in new financing at a lofty $40 billion valuation. Now it's time to buckle down and put that money to work building an end-to-end financial infrastructure with XRP at the core. If that happens, XRP could skyrocket in value. Solana Ever since its launch back in 2020, Solana has been touted as a potential "Ethereum killer." In November 2023, Cathie Wood of Ark Invest specifically pointed to the disruptive potential of Solana, given its much higher speeds, lower costs, and greater throughput capacity. Based on this disruptive potential, I'm looking for Solana ($72 billion) to continue to narrow the market cap gap with Ethereum ($355 billion). At some point in the next ...
(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market turned lower again on Monay, one session after ending the four-day losing streak in which it had dropped almost 35 points or 2.5 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,450-point plateau and it figured to see renewed support on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive following a sharp drop in the price of oil. The E...
(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market turned lower again on Monay, one session after ending the four-day losing streak in which it had dropped almost 35 points or 2.5 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,450-point plateau and it figured to see renewed support on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive following a sharp drop in the price of oil. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead. The SET finished modestly lower on Monday as losses from the food, property, service and technology sectors were tempered by support from the consumer, finance, resource and industry companies. For the day, the index lost 10.39 points or 0.71 percent to finish at 1,453.03 after trading between 1,449.73 and 1,464.12. Volume was 10.990 billion shares worth 45.979 billion baht. There were 246 decliners and 225 gainers, with 187 stocks finishing unchanged. Among the actives, Advanced Info skidded 1.09 percent, Bangkok Bank jumped 1.69 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical declined 0.88 percent, Bangkok Expressway gained 0.63 percent, B. Grimm dropped 0.89 percent, BTS Group rallied 5.15 percent, CP All Public slid 0.39 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods tanked 2.18 percent, Energy Absolute tumbled 1.92 percent, Gulf sank 0.76 percent, Kasikornbank climbed 1.02 percent, Krung Thai Card shed 0.51 percent, PTT Oil & Retail added 0.63 percent, PTT soared 3.01 percent, PTT Global Chemical surged 5.21 percent, SCG Packaging spiked 1.94 percent, Thai Oil plummeted 5.68 percent, True Corporation stumbled 1.65 percent and TTB Bank, Krung Thai Bank, Siam Commercial Bank, Siam Concrete, Asset World, Banpu and Thailand Airport were unchanged. The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened modestly higher on Monday and stayed that way throughout the trading day. The Dow rallied 273.17 points or 0.65 percent to finish at 42,387.57, while the NASDAQ gained 48.58 points or 0.26 percent to finish at...
On Monday, Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) and other major social media companies urged a U.S. federal judge to block school districts' lawsuits alleging their platforms were intentionally designed to addict students and worsen a youth mental health crisis. Big Tech Cites Section 230 Protections At a hearing in Oakland, California, attorneys for the companies asked U.S. District Judge Yvonne Go...
On Monday, Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) and other major social media companies urged a U.S. federal judge to block school districts' lawsuits alleging their platforms were intentionally designed to addict students and worsen a youth mental health crisis. Big Tech Cites Section 230 Protections At a hearing in Oakland, California, attorneys for the companies asked U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers to rule that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act shields them from liability, reported Reuters. The companies argue the school districts' claims rely heavily on user-generated content, which is broadly protected under federal law. "If that evidence is entirely excluded, I think the record here is incredibly thin," said Jonathan Blavin, an attorney representing the companies. "It's just not there." School Districts Say Case Is About Design, Not Content Lawyers for six school districts countered that their lawsuits focus on platform design features — not posts or videos — that allegedly keep young users engaged for extended periods. They argue those features have contributed to rising mental health problems among students and forced schools to spend more on counseling, staffing and anti-bullying efforts. "The literature shows the increase in the risk of harm is not based on content," said plaintiffs' attorney Andre Mura, citing expert studies reviewed by the districts. Judge Signals Skepticism Over Dismissal Rogers acknowledged that much of the evidence appears intertwined with content but suggested that does not automatically bar the cases. Juries often assess problems with multiple causes, she said. "It's not like we have a white and a yolk — it's all scrambled together," Rogers said. "Why should this be any different?" Bellwether Cases With National Impact The lawsuits are part of thousands filed nationwide against social media companies, including Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) , YouTube and its parent company Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) , Ti...
Meta And Other Social Media Giants Ask Federal Judge To Dismiss Lawsuits Claiming Platforms Were Designed To Addict Children - Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Benzinga
Meta And Other Social Media Giants Ask Federal Judge To Dismiss Lawsuits Claiming Platforms Were Designed To Addict Children - Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Benzinga
Alistair Berg/DigitalVision via Getty Images Introduction & Financials Sabra Health Care REIT ( SBRA ) has been recovering well in recent years after being hit significantly during the pandemic, although I believe there's still plenty of potential left here, while the company pays an industry-leading yield and comes at some of the most attractive valuation ratios, offering a solid way to gain expo...
Alistair Berg/DigitalVision via Getty Images Introduction & Financials Sabra Health Care REIT ( SBRA ) has been recovering well in recent years after being hit significantly during the pandemic, although I believe there's still plenty of potential left here, while the company pays an industry-leading yield and comes at some of the most attractive valuation ratios, offering a solid way to gain exposure to the significant potential of the skilled nursing, senior housing and behavioural health facilities across the US and Canada. Sabra Health Care REIT IR Over the first 9 months of 2025, SBRA delivered a decent 3.7% increase in Normalized AFFO per share, reaching $92.15 million during Q3 and $272.05 million over 9M'25, all while the company is investing record amounts that I'll mention below and has a strong pipeline going into 2026. Sabra Health Care REIT IR Regarding the guidance, Sabra sees a solid AFFO of about $1.455 to $1.465 per share and a normalized one that's $0.04 higher, meaning about $358.72 million in AFFO in 2025 or $368.55 million in Normalized AFFO at midpoint given the 245.7 million shares outstanding they use for the guidance. On a $4.7 billion market cap, that would place them at a P/NAFFO of about 12.75, which is not bad at this point. Similar to peers and other companies across the broader healthcare industry, Sabra is advancing its transition to SHOP (reporting a 15.9% cash NOI growth for SHOP assets), opting for operating their own properties instead of relying on tenants, which allows them to capture the potential occupancy improvements, as I'll mention below. Right now, SHOP reportedly stands at about 26% of the company's portfolio, growing "more quickly than anticipated," with the SBRA announcing a new target of 40% (vs. prior 30%) while also estimating that they'll exceed their $500 million upper end of the investment guidance, taking advantage of the weakness in this environment, which is very significant for a ~$4.7 billion market cap, wit...
An outbreak of the highly fatal Nipah virus in India’s eastern state of West Bengal has sparked widespread attention and public concern in China ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday when millions will travel. While the virus has infected at least five people in West Bengal, including one in critical condition, Chinese health experts say it is difficult to transmit and less likely to cause an outbre...
An outbreak of the highly fatal Nipah virus in India’s eastern state of West Bengal has sparked widespread attention and public concern in China ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday when millions will travel. While the virus has infected at least five people in West Bengal, including one in critical condition, Chinese health experts say it is difficult to transmit and less likely to cause an outbreak in China. With a fatality rate of up to 75 per cent and no effective treatment or vaccines available, the virus has triggered unease in China, with related topics trending on the country’s social media platforms on Monday. Advertisement “It’s so scary, especially with the Spring Festival coming up. I don’t want to experience another lockdown,” one online user said, referring to the Lunar New Year holiday. Another asked, “Can’t we temporarily shut the travel channel with India?” Last month, China and India eased visa rules for each other in a move aimed at boosting travel between the world’s two most populous countries. Advertisement The timing of the health threat to China is a concern as the Lunar New Year approaches, a period of extremely high travel traffic into, within and out of the country. The 40-day travel rush, known as chunyun, runs this year from February 2 to March 13.
Hong Kong has struck a deal with the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) to deepen cross-border connectivity in bullion trading, as the city steps up efforts to build a broader gold ecosystem spanning trading, clearing and storage. The agreement comes as gold prices hit a record high of US$5,110 per ounce on Tuesday morning, buoyed by geopolitical tensions and growing expectations of lower US interest ra...
Hong Kong has struck a deal with the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) to deepen cross-border connectivity in bullion trading, as the city steps up efforts to build a broader gold ecosystem spanning trading, clearing and storage. The agreement comes as gold prices hit a record high of US$5,110 per ounce on Tuesday morning, buoyed by geopolitical tensions and growing expectations of lower US interest rates, which have revived demand for the precious metal as a safe-haven asset. A government official said the partnership marked “the dawn of a new chapter – one in which Hong Kong and Shanghai join forces to shape the future of global gold markets”. Advertisement In this explainer, the Post breaks down what the new accord changes – and whether it could eventually put Hong Kong on the same footing as rival gold hubs in London, New York and Switzerland. Why the Shanghai Gold Exchange matters Founded in 2002 by the People’s Bank of China, the SGE is the mainland’s only official exchange for trading gold, silver and platinum. It launched an international board in 2014, according to the exchange.