Morning headlines: metals rally, Nvidia deal, and Japan's race for chips

Japan is increasing its budget support for chips and AI by almost four times. China is launching three major venture capital funds to invest in hard tech — from microchips and quantum technologies to neural interfaces. Nvidia has signed a licensing agreement with startup Groq. Read about these and other topics in our review of key events as of the morning of December 26.

Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry plans to nearly quadruple its support for advanced semiconductors and artificial intelligence to 1.23 trillion yen ($7.9 billion) in its budget for the fiscal year starting in April, Bloomberg reports. The ministry's total budget will grow by 50% to 3.07 trillion yen, mainly due to spending on chips and AI.

The project has already been approved by the government and will be discussed in parliament in the new year. The authorities intend to move to regular funding of these areas instead of one-off investments in order to provide more stable support. For semiconductors, 150 billion yen is earmarked for the state-funded startup Rapidus, bringing total government investment to 250 billion yen. 387.3 billion yen will be allocated to the development of AI, which will go towards the creation of national base models, the development of data infrastructure, and "physical AI" for robotics and industry.

Nvidia has signed a licensing agreement with Groq, a startup that develops high-performance AI accelerators. The world's most valuable public company will integrate Groq chips into future products. Some of the startup's executives will move to Nvidia to assist in this endeavor. Groq will continue to operate as an independent company with a new CEO, according to a statement from the startup.

The financial terms of the deal have not been officially disclosed. In the latest round, investors valued Groq at $6.9 billion. Groq investor and Disruptive Capital CEO Alex Davis told CNBC that Nvidia will acquire virtually all of Groq's assets, with the exception of its cloud business GroqCloud, for $20 billion.

Copper prices have risen sharply amid expectations of a reduction in global supply in 2026 and a weakening US dollar, according to Bloomberg. In China, prices rose 2.7% to 98,780 yuan per ton, while on the Comex in the US, futures rose 3% to $5,743 per pound, the highest since the short squeeze in July.

Prices are getting extra support from expectations of growing demand for copper as part of the global energy transition: in New York, the metal has already gone up more than 42% in a year. The market is also factoring in a possible return to the US trade agenda in 2026, while the weakening dollar is making raw materials cheaper for buyers outside the US, boosting investment in the metal, Bloomberg notes.

Gold and silver prices hit new all-time highs, continuing one of the strongest rallies in the precious metals market in decades, according to Bloomberg. The spot price of gold rose more than 1% to above $4,530 per ounce, silver gained 4.6% to exceed $75 per ounce for the first time, and platinum also reached a record high, exceeding $2,400 per ounce.

The prices are supported by growing geopolitical tensions, including US pressure on Venezuela and Africa, as well as the weakening of the dollar, which saw its biggest decline since June this week. Since the beginning of the year, gold has risen in price by about 70%, and silver by more than 150%, making the current growth the strongest since 1979.

China has announced the launch of three venture capital funds to invest in so-called hard tech — key technological areas with high scientific and manufacturing complexity, Reuters reports, citing state television CCTV. The financing parameters have already been approved: each fund will exceed 50 billion yuan (about $7.1 billion).

The funds will primarily target early-stage startups valued at less than 500 million yuan, with individual investments not exceeding 50 million yuan. Priority areas include integrated circuits, quantum technologies, biomedicine, neural interfaces, the aerospace industry, and other strategic "hard" technologies, as opposed to "soft" segments such as Internet services.

— Japan's broad Topix index rose 0.2% on December 26, while the Nikkei 225 rose 0.7%.

— The Hong Kong Stock Exchange is closed for Christmas. Mainland China's CSI 300 index rose 0.3%.

— In South Korea, the Kospi and Kosdaq indices rose by 0.5%.

— Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.4%.

— S&P 500 futures, Nasdaq Composite futures, and Dow Jones Industrial Average exchange contracts remained virtually unchanged.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor