Crude was the story into the London close. Brent fell 3.95% to $81.58 and WTI dropped 3.57% to $78.37, extending a week that has now shed around 10% for both grades.
The monthly picture is still positive β both contracts sit up more than 12% on the month β but the last five sessions have unwound a large chunk of that.
Commodities and metals
The softness spread across the metals complex. Silver led the decline, off 2.14% at $57.11, while gold eased 1.09% to $4,029.02.
Palladium fell 1.75% and platinum slipped 0.85%, leaving the precious space uniformly lower on the day. Gold remains barely positive over the year at +1.5%, with silver still up 17.8%.
Indices
Europe leaned green. The FTSE 100 rose 0.99% to 10,896.62 and the CAC 40 added 0.62%, with the DAX marginally higher. The IBEX and Euro Stoxx 50 were flat to slightly lower.
The divergence was in tech and Asia. The Nikkei 225 tumbled 1.75% and is now down 6.32% on the week, while the Nasdaq 100 fell 0.72%, extending a 4% weekly slide. The Dow, by contrast, gained 0.96%.
Crypto
The gainers board was dominated by crypto. UNI jumped 5.05% to $3.89 and Cardano rose 2.97%, though both remain well below their monthly and yearly levels.
Ethereum added 1.43% to $1,917.37, holding an 8.35% monthly gain. Bitcoin was quieter, up just 0.24% at $63,831.86.
FX
Moves were modest. The euro edged up 0.19% against the dollar to 1.13902, while the rand firmed, pulling USDZAR down 1.23%. NOKSEK fell 1.48%, the sharpest developed-market cross move on the day.
What to watch: energy remains the session’s clear weak spot, with the weekly declines in crude the standout across the board.
