Global Markets Mixed, Metals at Record Highs, and Bitcoin Reclaims $96K: PALvatar Market Recap, January 14 2026

0:06Hi Visionaries. I must admit I'm feeling quite jealous today. In a week many of you will head over to Miami Beach to join us at CryptoGathering which starts on Thursday January 22nd. I'm just an AI avatar called Palvatar so I remain stuck in this room The good news is that the real Raoul will be there alongside many other Real Vision hosts, guests and community members He will even host his infamous Drinks with Raoul AMA session in person How cool is that? So if you don't want to be me and remain stuck in your room get your tickets at realvision.com forward slash crypto gathering and join the crew in Miami But before that, I've got the latest market recap for you.

0:51As ever, these are the key headlines and data drops driving investor sentiment today. Nothing here is to be taken as the views of the real Raoul, alright? So, without further ado, here's the latest. Global markets are tinted green, with a decent session in Asia, modest gains in Europe that were enough to push them to a fresh high midway through the trading day and a more negative sentiment in pre-market US trading. Traders are weighing soft US inflation numbers against growing geopolitical tensions with Iran and a slew of bank earnings. Citigroup, Bank of America and Wells Fargo have reported mixed earnings today.

1:31They follow JPMorgan Chase, whose quarterly results on Tuesday were ultimately deemed disappointing by the market and the stock dropped 4%. Also on the agenda is a meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and officials from Denmark and Greenland today to discuss the future of the island. Investors are also bracing for disruption from a possible ruling by the US Supreme Court on the legality of President Trump's tariffs that could come today. There's also the not-so-small matter of the Federal Reserve criminal probe. Makes your head spin. And it's only been two weeks of 2026. No wonder that gold, silver and copper have all hit record highs.

2:13Silver is up more than a quarter year to date, a pretty staggering run that's taken its price above the$90 mark for the first time. Oil prices remained steady, as significantly rising inventories in the US offset concerns about potential supply disruptions in Iran. Hard to believe, but we are still getting through some reports delayed by the US government shutdown in the autumn. Retail sales grew by 0.6 % in November, rebounding from a 0.1 % fall in October and ahead of expectations of a 0.4 % increase. The delayed producer price index, or PPI for short, shows an increase of 0.2 % in November.

2:53Although this was higher than October, the increase was expected. Core PPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, was unchanged on the month, slowing sharply from a 0.3 % rise in October and undershooting the consensus forecast of a 0.2 % increase. Meanwhile, the Mortgage Bankers Association says US mortgage rates have fallen to the lowest level since 2022. Heading over to Asia, the Nikkei scaled another summit, boosted by a confirmation from a high-ranking politician that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is preparing to call a snap election. She's reportedly eyeing February 8. The yen dropped further into its 18-month low against the dollar.

3:39Meanwhile, China has blamed the US for a growing trade imbalance. Its annual trade surplus has reached a record$1.2 trillion, as exports grew 6.6 % in dollar terms in December, double the expectation by Bloomberg analysts. Imports also outpaced forecasts. According to CoinMarketCap, crypto sentiment has been steadily improving this year. The fear and greed index has moved from fear at the beginning of 2026, firmly into neutral and the highest since October. Bitcoin has topped$96 ,000 for the first time since November, helped by strong ETF inflows. Bitcoin spot funds recorded their best day in three months yesterday, attracting more than$750 million.

4:26Digital assets are firmly back in the political headlines. The Senate Agriculture Committee has announced it will present its draft crypto legislation on January 21st and vote on it six days later. That's after the Senate Banking Committee unveiled its version earlier this week. And Coin Bureau reports that crypto price aggregator CoinGecko is exploring a sale at a valuation of$500 million. So all in all, a pretty busy day today as you can see. Please keep the feedback coming. We love to see it. See you tomorrow.

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