The Daily Bullion: XRP leads crypto, palladium sinks

XRP is out front as the trading day opens, up 3.79% to $1.3841 and leading a crypto tape that is green almost top to bottom. The currency majors, by contrast, are barely moving into the European session.

Crypto leads the board

XRP’s move is the single biggest on the day, trailed by a cluster of smaller tokens: GRT +3.67%, LNK +3.00%, XTZ +2.33% and Cardano +2.19% to $0.2283. The large caps joined in — Bitcoin +2.13% to $84,709.8, Ethereum +2.02% to $2,495.76, Solana +1.72% to $108.19 and BNB +1.14% to $748.93.

The bounce is a session story, not a reversal. Bitcoin is still down 1.71% on the month, Ethereum 9.34%, Cardano 10.01% and XRP 11.95%, even after a firmer week (Bitcoin +3.14%, XRP +3.87%).

Currencies sit quiet

The majors are going nowhere. EUR/USD is flat at 1.12289, GBP/USD up 0.10% at 1.33848 and USD/JPY down 0.12% at 158.09. The commodity dollars are the firmer corner — AUD/USD +0.31% (up 1.59% on the week) and NZD/USD +0.40% (up 1.41%).

The dollar is softer against the Scandies and the rand: USD/NOK -0.53%, USD/SEK -0.35%, USD/ZAR -0.52%. The exception is the peso — USD/MXN +1.34% to 18.668, extending a 7.94% climb over the month.

Metals and equities split

The day’s red is concentrated in metals and Asian stocks. Palladium is off 2.30% to 1,076.9, now down 17.9% on the month, and platinum -1.45% to 1,626.57 (-11.9% monthly). Gold firmed 0.63% to $4,139.88 but is still 5.13% lower over the month; silver edged up 0.31% to 57.95, where a 20.4% year-on-year gain survives a 13.99% monthly drop.

Crude held its ground. US crude slipped 0.67% to $97.47 and Brent added 0.25% to $106.40, yet both sit on outsized longer-run gains — Brent up 11.87% on the month and 68.87% on the year, US crude +9.36% and +62.3%.

In equities the split is regional. The Hang Seng fell 1.69% to 23,597.76, down 2.77% on the week, and the Nikkei slipped 0.63% — though it still carries a 33.39% year gain. Europe and Wall Street went the other way: Euro Stoxx 50 +0.89%, IBEX 35 +0.79%, the Dow +0.70% to 52,878.78 and the S&P 500 +0.34%.

Into the European morning, metals — palladium and platinum especially — remain the session’s weak spot, while crypto’s bounce is still fighting a red month.