Spot gold rose 1.00% intraday to $4,067.05/oz.

Hong Kong government today (26) gazetted the rail scheme for the Hong Kong section of the Northern Link branch under the Rail Ordinance (Cap. 519). The government previously signed a first-part project agreement with MTR Corporation covering the Northern Link mainline and branch, initiating more mature and urgent mainline works while directing MTR to proceed with detailed planning and design for the branch. The branch comprises an approximately 6 km underground alignment from the Northern Link mainline at San Tin station, with about 5 km in Hong Kong and roughly 1 km in Shenzhen. It will create three new stations: two in Hong Kong in the San Tin Technology City area at Chau Tau and Hetao, and one in Shenzhen at the new Huanggang Port crossing.

Japan’s House of Councillors passed amendments to the Defense Ministry Establishment Law today, formally designating space as a new operational domain and renaming the Air Self-Defense Force the Air and Space Self-Defense Force. The new service is expected to be established in fiscal 2026 (Apr. 1, 2026–Mar. 31, 2027) and will include a newly created Space Operations Group responsible for space missions. This is the first organizational name change since the Air Self-Defense Force’s founding in 1954.