1. U.S. stock futures took a hit on Monday as Wall Street processed Moody’s downgrade of the credit rating. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dropped around 340 points, or 0.8%. Contracts tied to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 were down 1.2% and 1.6%, respectively. Moody’s cut the U.S. government’s long-term credit rating from AAA to AA1 late Friday, citing escalating deficits and the increasing burden of refinancing debt amid elevated interest rates. The downgrade brings Moody’s in line with Fitch and S&P, which previously stripped the U.S. of its top-tier rating. The bearish tone in futures trading follows a bullish run for equities. Investors last week embraced news of a temporary U.S.-China tariff truce, which sent all three major indexes to a banner week. The Nasdaq surged over 7%, while the S&P 500 added more than 5% in a five-day rally. The Dow climbed more than 3%, finishing Friday’s session up more than 300 points. This week’s calendar is light on scheduled economic announcements, and the market is monitoring manufacturing data and initial jobless claims.
2. Gold prices are solidly higher in early trading Monday, as the marketplace is jittery following a surprise ratings agency downgrade to U.S. government debt and lingering global trade worries. Silver prices are moderately up. June gold was last up $60.20 at $3,247.40. July silver prices were last up $0.421 at $32.775. Financial markets were also rattled a bit when U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent said in an interview Sunday that trade tariffs would go back to April 2 announced levels if countries don’t negotiate with the U.S. “in good faith.” Fresh economic data out of China shows the trade war with the U.S. has dented the Chinese economy. Gold prices are sharply up on safe-have demand amid the selloff in global stock markets. The key outside markets today sees the U.S. dollar index sharply lower. Nymex crude oil futures prices are lower and trading around $62.00 a barrel. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note is presently at 4.546%.
3. Investors should buy any dips in stocks fueled by last Friday’s credit rating cut, as the trade truce with China has reduced the odds of a recession, according to Morgan Stanley’s Michael Wilson. The strategist sees a greater chance of a pullback in equities after the downgrade by Moody’s Ratings pushed 10-year bond yields above the key 4.5% level. However, “we would be buyers of such a dip,” Wilson wrote in a note. In an encouraging sign, Wilson said the corporate earnings season seemed to have ended with no major impact from the uncertainty over tariffs. A recent pickup in profit upgrades also bodes well for further equity gains, even if the coming months show slightly weaker trade data, he said. “While we’re respectful of this potential outcome, we think the probability that the market looks through such weakness and deems it temporary just went up because of the trade agreement with China,” Wilson said. He warned in March that U.S. equity volatility would persist until the second half of the year. The strategist is now among the few voices favoring U.S. stocks over international peers.
4. Amazon’s Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy said the online retailer hasn’t seen any meaningful reduction in consumer spending or an increase in prices as a result of tariffs introduced earlier this year. Investors are carefully monitoring reports from U.S. retailers for signs of how shoppers and brands are responding to tariffs, which were as high at 145% on imports from China before President Trump announced a 90-day pause to give time for negotiations. Amazon executives said earlier this month that the company was bracing for the possibility that the escalating tariffs would create a more difficult business climate.
5. Coinbase Global often touts how it is “building the financial system of the future,” but last week the cryptocurrency exchange made a disclosure that highlighted how vulnerable it was to a very old-fashioned form of crime: bribery. Cyberattackers accessed names, addresses, government-ID imagery, transaction history, and account balances of customers and demanded a ransom payment of $20 million. How did criminals get this information? By bribing retail customer service agents in India, according to the company. The Justice Department is now investigating the hack. Paul Grewal, the company’s chief legal officer, brought the matter to the attention of the DOJ and said that the company itself is not being investigated. In closing Devin Ryan, head of financial technology research at Citizens Financial Group stated, “this is an issue that emanated from employees and also, I think, from a process.”
6. The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits dropped last week, suggesting the economy maintained a steady pace of job growth in May. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 227,000 for the week ended May 17, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled had forecasted 230,000 claims for the latest week.
7. Crude oil prices were set for a weekly decline today, following a report that OPEC+ was planning to add another 411,000 barrels daily to its output in July in an extension of its accelerated rollback of output controls. At the time of writing, Brent crude was trading at $64.06 per barrel, with West Texas Intermediate at $60.80 per barrel. Both were down by some 2% from Monday. According to a report, a stronger U.S. dollar contributed additionally to the weekly trend in oil prices.
8. EUR/USD gives up some of its initial gains during North American trading hours on Friday after revisiting the two-week high around 1.1370 earlier in the day. Still, the major currency pair is up around 0.5%, near 1.1330. The pair faces selling pressure after United States President Donald Trump threatened to impose 50% flat tariffs on imports from the European Union.
9. The Japanese Yen continues to appreciate against the U.S. Dollar, extending gains after Japan’s core consumer inflation surprised to the upside. The USD/JPY pair slipped below 144.00 after posting a modest gain on Thursday to trade near 143.00 during the European session on Friday, down over 0.50% on the day.
New York Federal Reserve President John Williams acknowledged on Monday that investors are taking a look at how they invest in U.S. assets while noting he’s seen no large-scale move away and added that the central bank can take its time before deciding its next interest rate move. Flagging signs of “rumors or concerns” about the state of U.S. dollar assets amid big government policy changes and large levels of uncertainty, Williams told a Mortgage Bankers Association conference in New York that “we’re not seeing major changes” in how foreign money flows into the Treasury bond market, although there have been some price effects related to those shifting preferences. Williams said even with rising yields related to this situation; government bond yields have been mostly range-bound. He also said when it comes to “core” fixed income markets like the Treasury market, the sector has been “functioning very well.” The New York Fed chief also said “the economy is doing very well” at the moment amid lots of uncertainty and some signs in recent data that there could be trouble ahead. Fed interest rate policy is slightly restrictive of growth and is “well positioned” for what lies ahead, he said.
Sales of new U.S. single-family homes unexpectedly increased in April as builders lowered prices to lure buyers, but rising mortgage rates and an uncertain economic outlook remain constraints for the housing market. New home sales surged 10.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 743,000 units last month, the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said on Friday. The sales pace for March was revised down to a rate of 670,000 units from the previously reported 724,000 units. Economists had forecast new home sales, which make up about 14% of U.S. home sales, declining to a rate of 693,000 units.
Volatility should be expected to remain high as investors will be closely watching for hints on the upcoming monetary policy direction. Many investors have redoubled their efforts to ensure that their portfolios are sufficiently diversified in the hope that they will be able to withstand corrections in multiple market sectors. Many of these investors have included physical precious metals as part of their diversification plans, given their long history as a hedge against both inflation and during times of economic turmoil. Remember, the key to profitability through the ownership of physical precious metals is to own the physical product and hold it for the long term. Always remember that you should never overextend your ability to maintain ownership of your precious metals over the long run.
Trading Department – Precious Metals International Ltd.
Friday to Friday Close (New York Closing Prices)
| May. 16, 2025 | May. 23, 2025 | Net Change | ||
| Gold | $3,189.41 | $3,362.69 | 173.28 | 5.43% |
| Silver | $32.22 | $33.46 | 1.24 | 3.85% |
| Platinum | $989.53 | $1,096.00 | 106.47 | 10.76% |
| Palladium | $960.42 | $1,004.34 | 43.92 | 4.57% |
| Dow | 42654.74 | 41603.07 | -1051.67 | -2.47% |
Previous Year Comparison
| May. 24, 2024 | May. 23, 2025 | Net Change | ||
| Gold | $2,332.76 | $3,362.69 | 1029.93 | 44.15% |
| Silver | $30.24 | $33.46 | 3.22 | 10.65% |
| Platinum | $1,029.27 | $1,096.00 | 66.73 | 6.48% |
| Palladium | $968.80 | $1,004.34 | 35.54 | 3.67% |
| Dow | 39069.20 | 41603.07 | 2533.87 | 6.49% |
Here are your Short-Term Support and Resistance Levels for the upcoming week.
| Gold | Silver | |
| Support | 3216/3107/3011 | 32.39/31.53/30.78 |
| Resistance | 3370/3421/3516 | 33.49/34.00/34.75 |
| Platinum | Palladiumn | |
| Support | 990/972/953 | 963/937/909 |
| Resistance | 1077/1115/1053 | 991/1018/1045 |