Goldman Sachs continues to believe that the upward trend in gold prices will face greater risks of two-way volatility.

South Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance will set up a Future Response Fund, financed primarily by excess tax receipts from sectors such as semiconductors, to convert windfall revenue into strategic investment aimed at lifting potential growth. Officials have not fixed a size; South Korean media and government estimates put a conservative floor of about W120 trillion (roughly $86bn). The government defines eligible revenue as the portion of domestic tax receipts that exceed a long-term trend estimate (not short-term cyclical gains). Planned inclusions also cover surplus tax, balances of the national surplus fund and its investment returns. Preliminary accounting suggests roughly W98 trillion could come from the gap between the 2027 domestic tax estimate (above W450 trillion) and the long-term trend estimate (about W352 trillion), plus roughly W20 trillion from local education-fund reform, totaling more than W118 trillion. Funds will target youth employment/living support, national growth engines (including frontier AI, physical AI, AIDC, SMR and aerospace), regional development, and education/talent. The fund will be managed by the Ministry of Economy and Finance with five accounts (overall, youth, growth engines, regions, education/talent). Project selection will be overseen by a public–private review committee modeled on lottery-fund governance, and the The fund’s operating plan must be submitted annually to the National Assembly. Analysts note the design appears intended to route semiconductor-driven tax gains into discretionary strategic investment, potentially sidestepping the spending order in the National Finance Act (local education allocations, public-debt repayment). Draft legislation, including the fund and local education-fund reforms, will be publicly notified 24–28 this month, reviewed at a cabinet meeting on the 1st of next month and submitted to the National Assembly on the 3rd alongside the 2027 budget.

U.S. Vice President Vance said Washington will continue using economic pressure to prevent Iran from rebuilding nuclear facilities. He said increasing oil and gas supply to lower energy prices, combined with punitive steps over attacks on commercial shipping, would impose significant economic strain on Iran and could alter its negotiating calculus. Vance described the current phase as one in which economic pressure is the most effective tool and said the U.S. will maintain that pressure to ensure Iran’s nuclear sites are destroyed and deteriorate any attempt to rebuild them.