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On January 7th, UBS analysts noted in a report that European oil giants may slow their quarterly share buyback pace. Analysts believe that companies may use this opportunity to reassess their capital frameworks in conjunction with updated earnings outlooks. Shell, listed in London, is expected to see the most significant reduction, with its quarterly buybacks falling from $3.5 billion to $3 billion. BP should be able to maintain its buyback levels using cash proceeds from asset divestitures; the British oil giant had previously cut its quarterly buybacks from $1.75 billion to $750 million early last year. Furthermore, Total Energy of France is expected to reduce its buybacks from $1.5 billion to $750 million. Analysts also indicated that Eni of Italy and Statoil of Norway may announce reductions in their buyback amounts on their respective capital markets days.

January 7th - Since the imposition of sanctions on Venezuela, U.S. refineries have increased their crude oil imports from Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, and the Middle East. This increased U.S. imports from Venezuela will replace some of these crude oil supplies, primarily from Canada. Canada aims to increase oil production to record levels by 2025 and export approximately 90% of its crude oil to the United States. A refining industry source stated, "At a time when Venezuela is struggling, Canadian heavy crude oil has filled the market gap. Now, different grades of crude oil will compete, which is beneficial for the U.S. refining industry but detrimental to Canada." Randy Olenburg, Managing Director of Barmos Capital Markets, stated that the long-term growth in Venezuelan oil production will put pressure on Canadian oil prices and further highlight the need to build a new Canadian export pipeline to the Pacific coast.

The UK's December construction PMI came in at 40.1, below the expected 42.5 and the previous reading of 39.4.

On January 7th, Futures reported that driven by the continued rise in prices of upstream polysilicon, silicon wafers, and solar cells, some leading companies raised their N-type module prices, sending a clear signal of price support. However, actual transactions did not follow suit. Currently, it is the traditional off-season at the end of the year, with most large-scale domestic projects nearing completion and overseas shipments slowing due to the Spring Festival and holidays. End-users have extremely low acceptance of price increases. Most buyers are choosing to wait and see or suppress prices to fulfill previous low-priced orders, making it difficult to implement new quotes, resulting in a "high price but no sales" market. Low-priced goods below 0.68 yuan/watt are still circulating in some channels, further suppressing the potential for price increases. In the short term, while the module segment has cost support, it lacks effective demand. If end-user projects fail to start as scheduled after the Spring Festival, high prices may be unsustainable. The core contradiction in the current market remains the resolute price increases from upstream suppliers and weak downstream demand. Whether prices can truly stabilize depends on the pace of demand recovery at the end of the first quarter.

On January 7th, Alibaba's (09988.HK) Gaode Maps announced an upgrade to its "Street View Ranking," launching a "Flying Street View" feature based on its self-developed world model technology and expanding the ranking's coverage from food to more scenarios. For small and micro-sized merchants, Gaode announced a support plan, stating that the platform will cover the computing costs to provide free access to the aforementioned "Flying Street View" feature for 1 million small and micro-sized merchants. In addition, Gaode plans to cooperate with 100 cities nationwide, lowering the entry threshold for merchants while providing resources such as data analysis and travel subsidies. Currently, Shanghai, Sichuan, Jinan, and other cities have already launched related cooperation.

On January 7th, strategists at RBC Capital Markets noted in a report that the UK Debt Authority's scheduled auction of £4.25 billion in government bonds maturing in March 2031 at 10:00 GMT is expected to attract strong interest. They stated, "The smaller auction size, coupled with the recent rebound in valuations and the resulting relative value investing interest, should result in a reasonably well-performing auction." Tradeweb data shows that the yield on UK government bonds maturing in March 2031 fell 3.5 basis points, ultimately closing at 4.002%.

Ventyx (VTYX.O) shares surged 65% in pre-market trading after reports that Eli Lilly (LLY.N) is close to finalizing a deal to acquire the company for over $1 billion.

China Overseas Land & Investment (00688.HK): Contracted sales in December were RMB39.83 billion, a decrease of 1% year-on-year.

January 7th - The steepening trend of the US Treasury yield curve – the widening spread between short-term and long-term Treasury yields – continues. While the yield curve has seen occasional interruptions in recent months, it has generally steepened. Analysts at First Abu Dhabi Bank noted in a report that short-term Treasury yields have remained stable amid concerns about stagflation risks, while long-term yields have fluctuated upwards. They stated that since the deep inversion in mid-2023, the spread between two-year and ten-year Treasury yields has steepened by approximately 170 basis points. According to Tradeweb data, the spread between two-year and ten-year Treasury yields is currently 70 basis points, having briefly reached a high of 71 basis points earlier this month.

The new chief of staff of Ukrainian President Zelensky said that the second day of the Paris talks yielded "concrete results".

UBS initiates coverage of Moderna (MRNA.O) with a neutral rating and a target price of $34.

Kuang-Chi Technologies: The company recently received a notification from its wholly-owned subsidiary, Kuang-Chi Advanced, that Kuang-Chi Advanced has signed a batch production contract for metamaterial products totaling RMB 215 million with a customer, and signed batch production contracts for metamaterial products totaling RMB 49.58 million with three other customers.

The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that it launched attacks on the pre-flight preparations, launch sites, ammunition depots, and military equipment of Ukrainian long-range drones.

On January 7th, China Overseas Grand Ocean (00081.HK) announced that in December 2025, its subsidiaries achieved contracted sales of RMB 2.57 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 43.9%; contracted sales area was 267,400 square meters, a year-on-year decrease of 30.7%. From January to December 2025, cumulative contracted sales amounted to RMB 32.185 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 19.8%; cumulative contracted sales area was 2,937,900 square meters, a year-on-year decrease of 15.7%. As of the end of December 2025, the cumulative subscription amount but not yet signed was RMB 956 million, with a subscription area but not yet signed of 76,500 square meters.

Today, all members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate will receive a classified briefing on Venezuela.

January 7th - Following Nestlé's recall of several batches of infant formula in multiple European countries, the Chinese market has also begun recalling certain batches of infant formula. A Nestlé China representative stated that food safety and quality remain Nestlé's top priorities. Nestlé has initiated preventative recalls of infant formula products in some European markets. Nestlé China takes this very seriously, noting that a small number of products in the Chinese market may be affected, and as a precautionary measure, certain batches of infant formula have been recalled. "As of now, we have not received any reports of discomfort related to the relevant products. All Nestlé Special Medical Purpose Infant Formula, NAN Supreme, Illuma, and S26 Platinum Formula registered and sold in mainland China are unaffected. We always prioritize product quality and consumer health," the representative said.

On January 7th, analyst Giuseppe Dellamotta stated that gold prices continue to be supported by geopolitical tensions and weak US data, with bullish momentum remaining solid. However, Friday's US non-farm payroll report could pose a challenge. While the credibility of the previous report was questionable due to issues related to the government shutdown, this data should provide a clearer economic picture. Strong data could lead to a significant pullback in gold prices as traders postpone their expectations of an imminent Federal Reserve rate cut; conversely, weak data should continue to support gold's upward trend. Furthermore, the US Supreme Court has set Friday for its opinion release, which may determine the outcome of Trump's tariff policies. If the tariffs are rejected, the easing of stagflation risks could lead to a decline in gold prices. Conversely, if the tariffs remain unchanged, while not triggering significant fluctuations, they will still support the upward trend in gold prices.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) of the United Arab Emirates announced a final investment decision for the Saalbu deep gas development project. The project is expected to produce up to 200 million standard cubic feet of natural gas per day.