Cardano is the standout as the session opens, up 3.51% to $0.2684 and now 20.41% higher on the month. The move is not the whole crypto tape, though: Stellar leads the day’s losers, down 3.61% to $0.21556.

Crypto

Beyond Cardano, Polkadot added 2.58% to $1.233, stretching its monthly gain to 26.33%, while Tezos (XTZUSD) rose 1.32% to $0.308 β€” a token now up 43.39% over the past month. The weakness sat elsewhere: alongside Stellar, LINK (LNKUSD) dropped 2.37% to $13.932 and is 4.54% lower on the week.

The large caps were quieter and slightly softer. Bitcoin eased 0.82% to $85,787.77, still holding a 6.81% monthly gain, and Ethereum slipped 0.47% to $2,713.37. BNB was the heaviest of the majors, off 1.16% to $785.12.

Currencies

The dollar held firm against the majors. EUR/USD fell 0.31% to 1.12168 and is now 3.39% lower on the month, while GBP/USD eased 0.17% to 1.32165. USD/JPY edged up 0.11% to 157.92, a 5.03% rise over the year.

The Antipodeans split on timeframe. AUD/USD firmed 0.22% to 0.69667 on the day but sits 3.31% lower on the month, while NZD/USD slipped 0.32% to 0.55961 and is down 4.82% over the same span. The Norwegian krone was a bright spot, with EUR/NOK off 0.97% and USD/NOK down 0.64%.

Equities and commodities

Asia led the index board. The Hang Seng rose 1.78% to 24,304.66 and the Nikkei 225 added 0.51% to 69,977.2, the latter up 44.73% on the year. In Europe, the IBEX 35 gained 1.03% to 19,336.31 against a 0.84% drop in the CAC 40, now 5.20% lower on the month. On Wall Street, the Nasdaq 100 rose 0.64% to 31,091.8 and the S&P 500 added 0.58% to 7,777.99.

Crude was the clear drag. Brent (UKOil) fell 1.91% to 99.16 and WTI (USOil) dropped 1.59% to 88.39. In metals, gold held flat at $4,141.57, silver rose 0.69% to $61.06 and platinum added 0.95% to $1,720.48.

Crude stays the session’s soft spot β€” both benchmarks lower on the day even as they hold yearly gains above 43%.