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[Hassett Says High Productivity Doesn't Necessarily Mean a Huge Increase in Jobs] Amidst the atypical situation of slowing job growth and strong GDP data, Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, stated that the surge in productivity has resolved this disconnect. He said, "Productivity is growing rapidly." He added, "This doesn't necessarily mean creating a large number of jobs." Hassett believes that productivity-driven growth will not necessarily exacerbate inflation, citing the situation in the 1990s under Alan Greenspan's leadership of the Federal Reserve as an example. He stated, "It will be crucial for the Fed to monitor this situation and ensure it continues, but what we are seeing in the data is extremely strong growth, and inflation has not accelerated."

[The US Dollar May Remain Stable for Now, with a Higher Probability of Decline] Morgan Stanley analysts stated in a report that the US dollar is likely to remain range-bound for now, although it still faces downside risks. These analysts said that given the low volatility and investor confidence, range-bound trading is likely until a clearer trend emerges. That said, the dollar could still fall if investors perceive a stronger prospect of interest rate cuts or begin to reflect higher risk premium expectations in exchange rates. "The risk is tilted towards a weaker dollar, especially against risk-sensitive currencies," the analysts said. The dollar index rose 0.2% to 99.152 during the session. Morgan Stanley noted that the index remains trapped in the 96-100 range.

Soybean prices rose despite concerns about ample supply. Soybean prices recovered some ground, but concerns about ample global supply persisted. Traders turned their attention to the USDA's upward revision of its forecasts on Monday after a Supreme Court ruling on tariffs failed to materialize. "The market now seems more concerned about the large supply coming from South America, where the soybean harvest is just weeks away," wrote Jack Scoville of Price Group. He added that U.S. prices are "currently too high to secure many new sales deals." There are also rumors that Brazilian soybean growers may be holding back sales, waiting for better prices. The most actively traded soybean contract rose 0.5%, while corn and wheat both fell slightly.

Spot platinum has just broken through the $2,310.00/ounce mark, last trading at $2,310.75/ounce, up 1.91% on the day; Nymex platinum futures main contract was last trading at $2,318.3/ounce, up 2.24% on the day.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has just broken through the 49,500.00 mark, currently trading at 49,500.23, up 0.48% on the day.

[Chinese Research Team's Findings Offer New Strategies for Improving the Stability of Perovskite Solar Cells] A team led by Professor Liang Chao from the School of Physics at Xi'an Jiaotong University, in collaboration with Professor Zhang Jinbao's team from the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Xiamen University, has proposed a novel solid-state molecular imprinting annealing strategy in the field of perovskite materials and device physics research, providing a new approach to improving the stability of perovskite solar cells. The relevant research results were published online in the international academic journal *Science* on January 9th. (Xinhua)