By Themis Qi
South China Morning Post, Hong Kong
Friday, January 30, 2026
China suspended trading of five commodity funds today to curb investment mania in gold, silver, and oil and reduce underlying risks amid geopolitical tensions.
The only public fund investing in silver futures in mainland China, UBS SDIC Silver Futures Fund, a listed open-ended fund, will be suspended for the whole day today, the second such halt since January 22.
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The trading halt also spread to oil open-ended funds, four of which were halted for an hour up to 10.30 a.m. today. Before the halts, fund-management firms had issued multiple alerts about high premium risks.
The actions came as global investors continued to flock to safe-haven assets amid escalating U.S. conflicts with Europe, South America, and the Middle East.
The prices of gold and silver broke records multiple times this month, nearing new all-time highs of US$5,600 and US$122 per ounce, respectively, on Thursday in New York. Gold and silver have surged more than 22% and 58%, respectively, in the past 30 days.
Brent oil also exceeded US$70 per barrel for the first time in about five months on Thursday as U.S. warships headed closer to Iran. The fuel benchmark edged down to US$69.70 today in Hong Kong.
"The expanded trade tensions intensify the price volatility of commodities, reflecting weakening confidence in U.S. dominance and the greenback, and tightened control over strategic resources," said Xu Tianchen, senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit. "China's trading halt and alerts aim to maintain the stability of the capital markets, preventing investors from suffering huge losses."
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