In 2025 Q1, Gold futures hit a milestone, breaking past $3100. It has soared 20% YTD. HSI and DAX also performed well, with over 10% gain. Nasdaq, BTC and Nikkei underperformed.

Gold Futures up 20%

Gold's latest quarterly gains now seriously rival the rise seen in 1986, the year of the Chernobyl disaster. The comparison is powerful, yet it pales against the performance of gold miners, which could keep gaining, according to Wall Street analysts.

The most active Gold futures contract rose 19.68% for the first quarter after settling at $3157.40 on Monday, marking its best performance since the third quarter of 1986 when it gained 24%. Gold has now hit 18 closing highs in 2025.

Hang Seng Index up 15%

The Hong Kong stock market is one of the stellar positive outperformers, together with European bourses, in the first quarter of 2025, riding on the coattails of China’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) “lower operational costs” theme play triggered by DeepSeek as well as the commitment of Chinese top policy makers to implement more expansionary fiscal policies to boost domestic consumption to reverse the ongoing deflationary spiral in the Chinese economy after the conclusion of the recent National People’s Congress meeting in early March.

Nasdaq Leads the Downturn

All three US major indices finishing Q1 in the red. Tech stocks led the quarterly selloff, with the Nasdaq posting a double-digit loss. The recent decline suggests investors remain cautious amid macroeconomic uncertainty, trade policy concerns, and shifting market sentiment. Moving forward, earnings reports, inflation data, and Federal Reserve policy decisions will be key drivers of market direction.

Bitcoin Falling Down

Bitcoin's Q1 2025 performance is notably weak, with a 10.7% loss, as per Tiger Trade. A key factor is the looming uncertainty from new US trade tariffs set to take effect on April 2, 2025, which are rattling risk assets like cryptocurrencies. Investors are shifting toward safe-haven options such as gold, which has reached all-time highs, leaving Bitcoin vulnerable. Additionally, technical indicators show the price slipping below critical support levels, like the $82,100 mark from late February, and failing to break resistance at $87,500.