Asian stocks rise as gold bounces back in calmer trade

Asian stocks and gold rebounded on Tuesday after recent wild swings, with Japan's Nikkei up about 2.5% and gold rising roughly 3% to around $4,800 an ounce amid firmer U.S. factory activity.

Asian markets and precious metals moved higher on Tuesday as trading took on a calmer tone following sharp swings in recent sessions. The change in mood followed stronger U.S. factory activity data overnight and came ahead of a central bank meeting in Australia and a busy corporate earnings period. Major regional indexes recovered some losses recorded earlier in the week. The article reports that prior metal price falls were driven in part by forced selling of leveraged positions. Market developments: - Japan's Nikkei jumped about 2.5% and South Korea's KOSPI rose about 4% as regional equities recovered. - Gold was roughly 3% higher in Asia trade at around $4,800 an ounce, and silver gained about 5% to $83.34 an ounce. - The article mentions U.S. factory activity expanded in January for the first time in a year, which put modest upward pressure on Treasury yields. - Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields were near 4.275% in Tokyo while two-year yields were around 3.57%. - The article mentions chipmakers and other AI-related firms helped lift the S&P 500 by about 0.5%, and that Disney fell 7.4% after issuing a profit warning tied to international park attendance and studio results. - The article notes market sensitivity to U.S. President Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh to lead the Federal Reserve, which earlier coincided with a sharp unwind in metals and leveraged positions. Summary: Calmer trade helped Asian equities and precious metals recover from recent volatile moves, though the piece reports that some of the earlier declines reflected a broad unwind of leveraged bets. Market participants are watching an Australian central bank meeting later on Tuesday and a packed corporate earnings schedule. Undetermined at this time.