Breaking news! Iran attacks US military base, safe-haven assets soar, Bitcoin jumps $400

This morning, at least nine rockets hit the Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar Province in western Iraq, which is located near the Syrian border and is home to U.S. troops. According to multiple Iranian media reports, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps confirmed that it attacked the U.S. Ain al-Asad air base in Iraq with dozens of missiles. This has once again heightened market concerns about the escalation of the situation in the Middle East. In the morning, crude oil prices soared to a new high since April 2019; traditional safe-haven assets such as gold and the yen rose sharply; U.S. stock index futures fell sharply in the short term; Bitcoin briefly retreated to the integer mark of $8,000 in the morning and then rose rapidly at the same time, with the highest intraday price once approaching the $8,400 mark, an increase of 23% in the past week.

After Bitcoin broke through the 8,000 USD mark early this morning, the upward space was further opened up, and the effective retracement of the key resistance-turned-support level of 8,000 USD in the early trading session confirmed that a new round of accelerated rise provided strong technical support. Currently, Bitcoin has risen by more than 6% in the day, reaching a high of 8,360 USD at one point, continuing to set a new high since mid-November 2019.

Gold rose rapidly after opening in the morning session, breaking through the $1,600 mark during the session. This is the first time that the spot gold price has returned above $1,600 since March 2013. As of the time of writing, gold hit a daily high of $1,612.

The yen also rose rapidly in the morning session, with USD/JPY diving from above 108.50 to around 107.60, hitting a new low since mid-October 2019.

International oil prices took off in response, with U.S. crude oil rising nearly 5% during the day, reaching an intraday high of $65.62 a barrel, the highest since late April 2019.

The chairman of Iran's Supreme National Security Council said on Tuesday (January 7) that Iran is conducting a situational assessment of 13 alternative plans to retaliate against the United States in response to the United States' killing of Iranian general Soleimani. Even the weakest of these alternatives can put the United States in a "historic nightmare." This also shattered the market's optimism about the "easing of the crisis", and the correction momentum of gold and U.S. bonds on Tuesday was forcibly reversed.

The semi-official news agency Fars quoted Ali Shamkhani, chairman of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, as saying in an interview that even the weakest of the 13 alternative "retaliation" plans mentioned above would become a historic nightmare for the Americans. For now, due to intelligence reasons, no more information can be provided to the media.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in Tehran on Tuesday that the United States would suffer the consequences of its killing of Soleimani "at a time and place chosen by Iran." He said the countdown to the U.S. withdrawal from the Middle East had begun, while warning that continued reliance on the U.S. presence would perpetuate wars in the region for generations.

The White House's latest official statement said that President Trump has been informed of the attack on US facilities in Iraq and is closely monitoring the situation with his national security team. US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in an interview with CNN International on Tuesday that the United States does not intend to go to war with Iran, but is prepared for the worst-case scenario.

In the short term, any disturbance in the Middle East situation will continue to be the absolute dominant event in the global financial market, and investors still need to pay close attention to the development of news in this regard.