Crude was the standout of the covered majors as US equities drifted lower into the close. WTI (USOil) rose 1.42% to 84.01 and Brent (UKOil) added 1.35% to 88.99, though both remain slightly lower on the week, down 0.89% and 1.30% respectively.
Indices
Wall Street ended in the red. The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.73% to 29,238.63, the S&P 500 dropped 0.45% to 7,677.70, and the Dow slipped 0.29% to 53,402.65. Even after the pullback, the Nasdaq holds a 3.77% monthly gain and is up 24.48% on the year.
Europe leaned the other way. The Euro Stoxx 50 gained 0.74% to 6,478.58 and the CAC 40 rose 0.81% to 8,402.11, while the DAX 40 lagged at -0.36%. The IBEX 35 added 0.65% and sits 34.00% higher year-on-year.
The day’s heaviest index move came from Tokyo: the Nikkei 225 dropped 1.50% to 64,818.40, trimming a run that still leaves it up 53.17% over twelve months.
Crypto
The altcoin tape split sharply. UNI led the entire board with a 9.57% jump to 5.127, extending an 18.39% weekly gain. At the other end, MATIC fell 7.64% to 0.0895, the worst performer across all 83 instruments despite a 45.29% monthly gain.
The majors were quieter. Ethereum rose 0.92% to 2,479.67 and Bitcoin added 0.55% to 78,639.81, with BTC still up 25.32% on the month. Solana slipped 1.13% to 104.37, XRP was flat at 1.3947, and Cardano eased 0.75% to 0.1996.
FX and metals
The South African rand was the currency mover, with USDZAR down 1.16% to 15.953 and off 3.42% on the month. USDNOK fell 0.26% to 9.3462 as oil firmed, while the majors were subdued: EUR/USD held at 1.15744 and GBP/USD at 1.3528, both down around 0.8% on the week. USD/JPY sat at 160.05.
Precious metals were nearly flat after a rough week. Gold edged up 0.10% to 4,458.95 and silver added 0.20% to 66.45, but both remain down more than 4.6% over five sessions. Platinum rose 0.33% to 1,834.20.
Into the new week, the split between firmer crude and softer US tech remains the clearest line in the data.
