Foreign exchange markets remained in a state of anticipation, as the dollar maintained its strength after being named Donald Trump Queen Warsh President ofFederal Razrowhich reinforced markets’ bets against a rapid decline in interest rates and against the adoption of a more accommodating balance sheet.
A fresh blow of volatility hit Bitcoin and stock markets at the Asian open Monday, after a historic collapse in precious metals spread to risky assets and left investors bracing for a week packed with earnings, central bank meetings and key economic data.
In early trading, Bitcoin fluctuated around the $75,000 level after falling below $76,000 amid low liquidity over the weekend, returning to levels last seen during the fallout from Donald Trump’s “Emancipation Day” tariffs last year.
Asian stock markets followed Wall Street futures lower as traders digested Friday’s metals shock and took a cautious stance ahead of a busy schedule. MSCI’s broad Asia-Pacific ex-Japan index fell 0.7%, while South Korea’s index fell 1.0%.
Japan stood out from the others. The Nikkei 225 index rose 0.7% after opinion polls indicated a landslide victory for Prime Minister Sanae Takaishi’s Liberal Democratic Party in next week’s lower house elections, a result investors see as supportive of a large stimulus package and a weak yen.
Market Overview
- Bitcoin: $75,549, down 4%
- Ethereum: $2,210, down 9.3%
- XRP: $1.56, down 6%
- Total cryptocurrency market capitalization: $2.62 trillion, down 4.3%
Metal Chaos Expands as Silver Collapses and Continued Pressure on Gold
The mood remained tense on raw materials. Silver continued to collapse and, at one point, fell another 5%, after Friday’s nearly 30% collapse led to the liquidation of leveraged positions in a trade that had become overcrowded.
Gold also remained under pressure after Friday’s fall marked its biggest daily decline since 1983, while silver suffered its worst daily loss on record.
Oil fell nearly 3% after Trump said over the weekend that Iran was “talking seriously” with Washington, a comment that traders interpreted as downplaying the risk of an immediate U.S. military strike. Iran has remained a major geopolitical factor in energy developments.
Markets prepare for earnings and central bank decisions
Currency movements added another layer. The dollar remained strong after Trump named Kevin Worsh as the next Federal Reserve chairman, a choice that markets viewed as less inclined to quickly cut interest rates and more focused on the Fed’s budget.
Stock futures fell in Europe and the United States, with S&P 500 futures down 0.2% and Nasdaq futures down 0.4%, as investors braced for results from Alphabet, Amazon and AMD, and greater scrutiny of artificial intelligence spending after the cold reaction received from Microsoft.
This focus on earnings is accompanied by major monetary policy meetings, including those of the Reserve Bank of Australia, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England, with markets pricing in a roughly 75% chance that the RBA will raise interest rates to 3.85% to counter rising inflation.
Data expected in Asia includes S&P Global manufacturing PMIs for Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, as well as inflation data for Indonesia and Pakistan, while Malaysia remains closed.
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