Banker has monitored a number of local and international events through its various platforms during the last hours. Therefore, we will review with you the most prominent news within the new global tour in the financial, corporate and energy markets around the world, coming to you from Banker.
Starting with gold prices globally… as gold prices are heading towards continuing their historic upward march to achieve new record levels in 2026, although analysts expected that the yellow metal’s increases would be slower after a year that witnessed huge gains, according to a survey conducted by the British newspaper “Financial Times”.
The newspaper said that gold bullion prices, which rose by 64 percent in 2025, will increase by nearly 7 percent to record $4,610 per ounce by the end of this year, according to the average forecast of 11 financial analysts.
Analysts believed that most of the factors that pushed bullion to the record race in 2025 are expected to continue this year, including the intensity of central bank purchases in emerging markets and the high investor demand to acquire safe haven assets.
The Financial Times pointed out that the most daring forecast was for gold bullion to reach a price of $5,400 per ounce – meaning a gain of 25 percent, which was expected by the financial analyst at MKS, Nikki Shell, who considered that other analysts’ estimates had been “always very timid in recent years.”
The next news in our global tour… about global energy prices, as Venezuelan oil exports have entered a stage of almost complete paralysis, after the ban announced by the United States on sanctioned oil tankers led to the disruption of shipping traffic from the main ports. This is a development that threatens to exacerbate pressures on the country’s oil production in the near term.
Sources familiar with the operations said, “without revealing their identity,” to the American website Investing that Venezuelan oil exports effectively stopped after port commanders did not receive any official requests to grant sailing permits to ships loaded with oil, following US President Donald Trump’s announcement of imposing a complete blockade on all sanctioned tankers entering or leaving Venezuelan waters.
This paralysis comes at a time when the United States announced the expulsion of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife from the capital, Caracas, while confirming its supervision of a political transition in the South American country. Trump said yesterday, Saturday, that an “oil embargo” on Venezuela has been fully implemented.
And to Britain… where the British newspaper (The Independent) reported today, that strict measures to limit advertisements promoting unhealthy foods are scheduled to enter into force as of tomorrow, Monday, in a step aimed at reducing childhood obesity rates and reducing their exposure to food marketing high in fat, salt and sugar.
A ban on advertising for foods and drinks high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) will come into effect in the United Kingdom, preventing them from being broadcast on television and completely banning them on digital platforms, as part of government efforts to address the continuing rise in childhood obesity rates.
This measure comes after a voluntary commitment period on the part of advertising companies that began on the first of last October, making compliance with the new rules mandatory, while granting the British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) powers to take action against violators.
The restrictions cover 13 categories of food products that are considered to contribute most to childhood obesity, including soft drinks, sweets and chocolate, pizza, and ice cream, in addition to some breakfast products, sweet breads, ready meals and sandwiches.
And to Kuwait… where the Kuwaiti “Al-Shall” Economic Center stated that Kuwait’s general budget for the current fiscal year 2025-2026 is likely to record a deficit of 6 billion and 702 million dinars, but the dominant factor remains the developments that occur in oil revenues and the savings that may be achieved in expenses when the final account is issued.
The Center stated – in its latest reports – that with the end of December 2025, the ninth month of the current fiscal year 2025-2026 had ended, and the average price of a barrel of Kuwaiti oil (for the month of December) was about $61.3, down by about $3.9 per barrel, i.e. -3.9% from the November average of about $65.2 per barrel, and lower by about $6.7 per barrel, i.e. by about -3.9%. -9.9% below the new conservative default price estimated in the current budget of $68 per barrel, and about $29.2 lower than the current budget’s parity price of $90.5, according to estimates from the Ministry of Finance and after stopping the deduction of 10% of total revenues for the benefit of the Future Generations Reserve.
And to corporate news: A report published by the British newspaper “Financial Times” stated that global electric car sales are heading to record the slowest annual growth rate since the “Covid-19” pandemic, in light of the contraction of the American market and the slowdown in demand in China.
The report stated that global sales of electric vehicles, including fully electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, are expected to rise by 13% to reach about 24 million vehicles in 2026, compared to an estimated growth of about 22% during the past year.
He pointed out that sales of electric cars in the United States are expected to decline by 29% to about 1.1 million vehicles, after the end of the federal tax exemption last September, which had contributed to raising sales to a record level of 1.5 million vehicles during the previous year.
In Europe, data expected sales to rise by 14% to reach about 4.9 million vehicles, following a strong increase estimated at about 33% in 2025.
As for China, the largest market for electric cars in the world, sales are expected to reach about 15.5 million vehicles, compared to 13.3 million vehicles last year.
