Gold Market
On Thursday, gold prices sharply fell amid a stronger US dollar and rising expectations of interest rate hikes: spot gold dropped by 2.2% to 4,651.35 dollars per ounce, and American gold futures declined by 2.8% to 4,679.70 dollars. US President Trump said he would continue attacks on Iran, promising to “send Iran back to the Stone Age,” which pushed oil prices higher, intensified concerns about inflation, and reduced the likelihood of rate cuts, putting pressure on non-yielding gold. Since the escalation of the Middle East conflict on February 28, spot gold prices have fallen by 12%. Market sentiment also deteriorated due to a sharp reduction in the gold reserves of the Central Bank of Turkey—over the past two weeks by more than 118 tons (on last week — a decline of 69.1 tons to 702.5 tons). On the demand side, amid falling gold prices in India, a premium over the spot price was recorded for the first time in two months. Among other precious metals: spot silver fell by 3.7% to 72.38 dollars, platinum rose by 0.9% to 1,981.95 dollars, and palladium fell by 1.9% to 1,497.00 dollars.

Internal News
By 2030, the volume of new energy storage systems in China will exceed 370 million kW
The 15th Five-Year Development Plan emphasizes the need to vigorously promote advanced technologies, particularly new energy storage systems. It is stated that new storage systems are becoming the core of the new energy system and are included in the list of national key industries. According to the recently published "White Paper on Energy Storage Research 2026," by 2030, the total installed capacity of new energy storage systems in China will exceed 370 million kW, more than one and a half times the level at the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan. (CCTV News)