US stocks opened lower today, with the S&P continuing to come off its record-setting performances. Economic figures indicated a slight dip in new home sales for May, with numbers falling to 619,000 from April's upwardly-revised 698,000. However, movements in the FX space are driven less by economic news and more by heightened volatility around the upcoming French elections on June 30th. Given that the yen has depreciated significantly, with the USD/JPY pair breaking the 160 level, the dollar remains the most attractive safe haven, leading the dollar index to appreciate above the 106 level today. At the same time, the 10-year US Treasury yield jumped to 4.31%. From a technical standpoint, the dollar is now overbought, and we expect to see a correction in the coming days.
Today, the base metals market remained quiet despite the dollar and Treasury yields showing some upward movement. As we approach the end of Q2 and a quieter summer period, we expect that investors will maintain their neutral positions to avoid potential volatility, likely resulting in narrow price ranges this week. We do not expect investors to be much shorter of the market at the moment. Copper tested the $9,500/t support level but held comfortably above it at $9,540/t. Aluminium rose back above $2,500/t to $2,512/t. Zinc experienced significant upward pressure after testing a robust trend support level at $2,850/t, suggesting that markets see little room for the downside.
Gold decreased today, finding support at the $2,300/oz level, while silver remained mostly flat at $28.8/oz. Oil declined, with WTI and Brent crude trading at $80.5/bbl and $84.7/bbl, respectively.
All price data is from 26.06.2024 as of 17:30
