Spot gold was up 0.4 percent at $4,463.63 per ounce

Exports in December stood at $44 billion, up 12.6 percent from November

Thailand’s economy is also expected to expand only modestly.

The upcoming meetings will be crucial to the administration's hopes to boost crude oil production and exports from Venezuela

Venezuela holds the world's largest oil reserves

The deal contains two "pillars," the second of which sets a minimum global tax rate of 15 percent

Gold prices climbed Monday along with other precious metals, after the United States captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro over the weekend, escalating geopolitical tensions and fueling safe-haven demand.

Oil prices fell on Monday after a US military operation seized Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, whose country has the world’s biggest proven crude reserves.

Vietnam said on Monday its economy grew 8.0 percent last year, thanks to gains in services, construction and exports and despite fresh US tariffs taking effect.

The dollar started the first full trading week of 2026 with a broad rally, climbing to a 3-1/2-week peak versus the euro and hitting two-week highs against the yen, Swiss franc and Canadian dollar.

The world economy is making a surprising habit of shrugging off unpleasant shocks. Since 2020, the planet has weathered a global pandemic, inflation, sharply rising interest rates, and the outbreak of war without a major slump.

Samsung Electronics plans to double this year the number of its mobile devices with “Galaxy AI” features largely powered by Google’s Gemini, its co-CEO said, which would give the US firm an edge over rivals as the global race in artificial intelligence heats up.

Spot gold rose 2.2 percent to $4,424.17 per ounce, a one-week high

Investors held their nerve on Monday, with stocks in Asia surging and oil prices down

Brent Crude was down 0.21 percent at $60.62 per barrel

President Donald Trump said on Saturday that American companies were prepared to return to Venezuela

The US doubled import tariffs on Indian goods to 50 percent last year

China will apply provisional import tariff rates lower than the most-favored-nation rates on 935 items starting on Jan 1, a move market observers and company executives said will further unleash domestic purchasing potential and create wider opportunities for global businesses.

Competition in public procurement has intensified after amending the government procurement rules, with the number of bids per tender rising to 8.5 by the end of last year from just 2.7 three months earlier, according to government data.

Venezuela is unlikely to see any meaningful boost to crude output for years even if US oil majors do invest the billions of dollars in the country that President Donald Trump promised just hours following Nicolás Maduro’s capture by US forces.