Asian Stocks Surge As Rate-Cut Bets Lift Risk Appetite; Precious Metals Rally

Asian equity markets rallied strongly as renewed expectations of global rate cuts boosted risk appetite across the region. Investors responded to softer U.S. economic signals and increasingly dovish central-bank guidance, driving broad-based gains in equities and precious metals.

Japan’s Nikkei and South Korea’s Kospi led the advance, supported by rebounds in technology and export-oriented stocks. Chinese equities also firmed as investors welcomed signs of stabilisation in policy support, even as growth concerns lingered. The improved tone followed a pullback in U.S. Treasury yields, which eased financial conditions and encouraged inflows into risk assets.

Precious metals benefited from the shift in sentiment. Gold moved higher as falling yields reduced opportunity costs, while silver extended its rally, supported by both safe-haven demand and industrial-use optimism. The metals complex has increasingly reflected expectations that monetary easing will resume across major economies in 2026.

In currency markets, the U.S. dollar softened against Asian and commodity-linked currencies, while the yen weakened slightly as risk-on flows reduced demand for traditional havens. The Australian dollar gained alongside higher metals prices, reinforcing the link between commodities and regional FX performance.

For traders, the session highlighted how sensitive markets remain to shifts in rate expectations. With liquidity thinning into year-end, even modest changes in yield dynamics are producing outsized moves across equities, metals, and currencies. Attention now turns to whether this risk-on momentum can hold through the final trading days of the year or fades as profit-taking emerges.