The new week kicks off with a relatively busy Monday calendar. We already had remarks from Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Bullock, and later today traders will tune in for a speech from Bank of England Governor Bailey, which could provide hints on the UK’s policy path. For a Monday session, that’s already plenty to digest.
On the FX side, the week begins with sharp weakness in the commodity bloc currencies — Canadian dollar, Australian dollar, and New Zealand dollar are all struggling in early trading. This weakness stands in stark contrast to the continued strength of the US dollar, which remains supported by last week’s FOMC decision and the post-rate-cut sentiment shift. The yen is steady, while the euro and pound are holding firm, at least for now.
Looking at indices, the tone is negative. After a strong finish to last week, Monday opens with a broad bearish correction, with European futures flashing red as the cash session gets underway. On commodities, oil is ticking higher but the rebound looks modest compared to the weakness seen in the second half of last week. The real story is in precious metals — gold is pushing into fresh all-time highs, while silver, platinum, and palladium are climbing as well, giving metals a clear bullish edge. The outlier this morning is crypto, where sentiment is heavily bearish. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and peers dropped sharply between the Asian close and European open, accelerating losses and leaving traders cautious about further downside.
So that’s the setup for Monday: dollar strong, commodity bloc weak, indices correcting, metals shining, and crypto under pressure. The speeches later today will likely add more color, but the market already feels alive at the start of this busy week.