Morning Bid: Gold and yen bask in the limelight

A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Ankur Banerjee

A bevy of tariff headlines this week along with geopolitical worries has left investors wary and weary, taking stocks lower in Asian hours, gold to a record peak and the yen to its highest in over two months as sentiment remains fragile.

European stocks are poised to tread with caution on Thursday, futures indicate, after the pan-European STOXX 600 index dropped nearly 1% in the previous session, its biggest daily drop in two months.

Bear in mind, the benchmark index, along with other European bourses, has had a strong start to the year, clocking in a double-digit rise so far in 2025, far outperforming U.S. stocks.

Markets have sort of grown accustomed to the various tariff vows from U.S. President Donald Trump, with many analysts seeing the threats as an opening gambit in long-drawn-out negotiations with foes and friends alike.

But Trump denouncing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as a "dictator" and warning he had to move quickly to secure peace or risk losing his country brought to the fore the ample worries around geopolitics, sapping risk sentiment.

The risk-off mood meant the yen - already underpinned by rising odds of the Bank of Japan hiking rates again - was the main mover among currencies, hitting its highest level since early December and was last at 150.48 per dollar.

Gold prices hit yet another record high on safe-haven flows, taking its 2025 gains to 12%. For those keeping track, that's the ninth time the metal has touched an all-time high this year. And that comes after a 27% rise last year, its strongest annual performance in over a decade.

Both Citi and Goldman raised their target price on gold this month, predicting it to breach the $3,000 mark. A large part of the reason behind the bullishness is sustained demand from central banks. Perhaps in these uncertain times, gold is all that shines.

Focus will also be on earnings from Mercedes-Benz and Renault as the European automakers try and allay investor fears on tariffs.

Key developments that could influence markets on Thursday:

- Germany producer prices for January

- Earnings: Airbus, Lloyds Banking, Mercedes-Benz and Renault

(By Ankur Banerjee in Singapore; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)