In Japan’s snap parliamentary elections, indicators and opinion polls point to a major victory for Sanae Takaichi, the country’s prime minister, and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. The ruling coalition is expected to secure a decisive majority or even two thirds of the parliamentary seats. If power is consolidated, Takaichi is expected to pursue expansive fiscal policies with a focus on investment in technologies such as artificial intelligence and to adopt firmer positions in the defense sector.

The first round of direct talks between the United States and Iran after months of tension was held on Friday in Oman. These indirect talks were conducted with Omani mediation. The main topic of the negotiations was Iran’s nuclear program. Iran stated that it is committed to peaceful enrichment but is not willing to completely halt enrichment. Both sides have planned the next round of talks for next week. These negotiations are taking place while the United States continues to apply pressure by deploying naval forces to the region, and Iran has threatened a decisive response to any attack. Iran’s stock market reacted positively, but markets are not very optimistic about the talks.

U.S. Federal Reserve Vice Chair Philip Jefferson expressed “cautious optimism” about the outlook for the U.S. economy and stated that strong productivity growth could help return inflation to the central bank’s 2 percent target. He predicted that the disinflationary trend would resume later this year, after the full impact of increased tariffs is reflected in prices. Jefferson also emphasized that the Federal Reserve’s current monetary policy stance is well positioned to respond to economic developments.

Gold prices rose above 5,000 dollars per ounce again as buyers returned on dips, recouping part of the sharp selloff seen in late January. Continued gold purchases by the People’s Bank of China for a fifteenth consecutive month and strong demand from central banks have been cited as key supportive factors for the market. Despite recent intense volatility, major banks such as Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank remain optimistic about gold’s long term bullish outlook due to policy uncertainty and diversification away from US assets, while silver also experienced a sharp rally.