Precious metals open the session as the market’s clearest bid while crude does the opposite. Gold tops every mover on the board, up 1.3% to $4,180.99, as U.S. crude sinks 4.03% to $88.06.

Metals firm, energy sinks

Gold’s 1.3% lead is echoed across the complex: silver added 1.08% to $61.45 and palladium 1.09% to $1,233.87. Platinum was the outlier, off 0.65% to $1,713.80.

That bid sits inside a softer month β€” gold is down 6.1% over 30 days, silver 7.72% and palladium 9.9%. The longer frame is kinder: silver still holds a 31.58% year-on-year gain and gold 8.23%.

Oil ran the other way. USOil dropped 4.03% to $88.06 and UKOil 2.95% to $95.25, leaving both down roughly 3.5% on the week. Even after that slide, crude sits 41-44% above where it traded a year ago.

Dollar firmer against the majors

The dollar opens on the front foot. EUR/USD eased 0.27% to 1.13396 and GBP/USD 0.20% to 1.32261, both now down about 2.4% on the month. AUD/USD fell 0.39% to 0.69868 and NZD/USD 0.43% to 0.56371, the Kiwi off 4.79% over 30 days.

USD/JPY was near flat at 157.32. Dollar strength read more clearly elsewhere: USD/CAD firmed 0.09% to 1.41893, USD/NOK 0.44% to 9.57705 and USD/MXN 0.32% to 18.027, the peso pair now 6.08% higher on the month.

Crypto soft, alt tail leads losers

Bitcoin held near flat, down 0.11% at $83,375.42, with Ethereum off 0.36% at $2,677.69. The damage sat further out the curve: LNKUSD led all losers at -5.22%, Stellar fell 4.01%, GRTUSD 3.63% and Litecoin 3.01%.

Those drops follow a strong month β€” Litecoin is still up 38.3% and GRTUSD 80.25% over 30 days. UNIUSD bucked the tape, up 0.91% and 69.94% on the month, while Polkadot added 0.85% for a 41.77% monthly gain.

Equities mixed

The Nikkei 225 stood out, up 1.08% to 66,116.73 and 47.65% over the year. Europe opened heavier: the IBEX 35 fell 1.21%, the CAC 40 1.01% and the FTSE 100 0.63%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.16%. In the U.S., the Nasdaq 100 edged up 0.26% as the S&P 500 and Dow held within 0.15% of flat.

Energy is the session’s weak spot, with both crude grades down 3-4% while precious metals are the only broad green on the screen.