1. U.S. stock futures surged on Monday and oil prices sank as investors welcomed a breakthrough US-Iran deal to end hostilities and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 led gains, soaring 2.2%, while those on the S&P 500 jumped 1.3%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures climbed 1% on the heels of Friday’s solid gains for Wall Street stocks. Oil prices sank, with global benchmark Brent crude futures down 4.7% to around $83 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate futures fell over 5%, holding above $80 a barrel as concerns over supply disruptions eased. Wall Street enters the week with momentum following SpaceX’s blockbuster public debut on Friday. Shares of the Elon Musk-led company rose over 5% in premarket trading, after rocketing up over 19% in their first trading session to push the company’s market value above $2 trillion.
2. U.S. Treasury yields fell on Monday as the announcement of a preliminary peace agreement between Washington and Tehran shifted investor expectations for inflation and the outlook for interest rates. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note — the key benchmark for U.S. government borrowing — fell more than 2 basis points to 4.459%. The 2-year Treasury note yield, which more closely tracks short-term Federal Reserve interest rate policy, was more than 3 basis points lower at 4.054%. The longer-dated 30-year Treasury bond yield lost more than 1 basis point to 4.958%. Investors are looking for economic data on housing and retail sales this week. They will also closely monitor the Federal Reserve policy meeting, which Fed funds futures indicate has a more than 98% chance of ending with rates unchanged, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.
3. As U.S. housing costs continue to climb, 242 cities across the country now have “starter homes” costing at least $1 million, according to Zillow. The number of metropolitan areas with basic homes worth at least seven figures has tripled since 2020. Home prices surged during the pandemic as a housing shortage collided with strong demand and historically low mortgage rates. A total of 26 states have at least one city with million-dollar starter homes, up from nine before the pandemic, Zillow found: California: 105 New York: 41 New Jersey: 26 Florida: 11 Massachusetts: 10 Washington: 8 Texas: 7 Connecticut: 4 Hawaii: 4 Maryland: 4 Colorado: 3 South Carolina: 3 Illinois: 2 Wyoming: 2 Arizona: 1 Georgia: 1 Kansas: 1 Michigan: 1 Minnesota: 1 Missouri: 1 New Hampshire: 1 Nevada: 1 Pennsylvania: 1 Rhode Island: 1 Utah: 1 Virginia: 1.
4. Oil prices fell to their lowest level in three months Tuesday, as the U.S. will reportedly allow Iran to immediately begin selling crude under the terms of the deal to end the conflict. Brent crude futures briefly fell 5% to $78.94 per barrel, the first time the international benchmark has traded below $80 since March. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were down about 5.9% to $76.02. Washington and Tehran had earlier reached a provisional agreement on Sunday, which would extend the U.S.-Iran ceasefire for 60 days and reopen the Strait of Hormuz to all shipping.
5. Large U.S. banks on Thursday will formally pitch the central bank on tweaks to a Federal Reserve proposal aimed at reducing the funds they must set aside to absorb potential losses, as the central bank enters the last leg of a marathon overhaul of U.S. capital rules. Among their top asks will be reductions to capital assigned to Wall Street trading activities, scrapping a requirement to hold capital against unused credit card lines, and further fixes to reduce the impact of a surcharge levied on globally interconnected banks. Lenders believe the new proposal is a dramatic improvement from the central bank’s original 2023 plan put forward by Democratic officials keen to impose stricter bank rules, which had envisaged a 20% capital hike following regional bank failures. Last month, Phillip Basil, director of Economic Growth and Financial Stability for Better Markets, said in a press statement “strong capital standards are the foundation” of a resilient banking system, because “they ensure that banks, not taxpayers, workers, or small businesses absorb losses when risks materialize.”
6. The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits fell last week as layoffs remained low, underpinning the labor market. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 226,000 for the week ended June 13, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled had forecasted 225,000 claims for the latest week.
7. Oil futures and retail gasoline prices fell as the U.S. and Iran agreed to end their months-long conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, spurring a flurry of ships to cross the critical chokepoint. Brent slipped 1.3% to near $78 a barrel in London, briefly touching the lowest since early March and whittling away more war-time gains. In the U.S., gasoline prices dropped below $4 a gallon for the first time since March.
8. EUR/USD stages a modest rebound after slipping to a three-month low below 1.1420 at the end of the week. That said, the pair now looks to consolidate humble gains just above 1.1460 despite growing uncertainty surrounding the next round of U.S.-Iran negotiations, which keeps the dollar’s downside contained.
9. USD/JPY alternates gain with losses comfortably above the 161.00 mark on Friday. The Japanese Yen finds marginal support from hawkish BoJ commentary and signals from the April meeting Minutes that further rate hikes remain on the table, while usual FX intervention concerns and the Greenback’s lackluster performance also add to Friday’s price action.
The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday for the fourth consecutive policy meeting. Central bank officials signaled that they’re looking to hold rates steady this year — but are close to hiking rates once. Fed members voted in a unanimous decision, the first since last June — to hold the benchmark interest rate in the range of 3.5% to 3.75%.
Home contract signings picked up in May, the latest sign that homebuyers shrugged aside concerns about high mortgage rates and elevated inflation this spring. The Pending Home Sales Index rose 4.8% from a year earlier in May, and was up 3.8% month over month, according to National Association of Realtors figures released on Wednesday. Sales were up from last year in all parts of the country, led by a 9.3% jump in the Midwest, which homebuyers have sought out for its relative affordability compared to places like the Northeast. “A late spring buyer rush, even with mortgage rates not budging — is an indication of pent-up housing demand and consumers’ acceptance of above-6% mortgage rates as the new normal,” NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement. Homes typically go under contract a month or two before they’re sold, making pending home sales an early indication of future sales activity.
U.S. consumers ramped up spending in May across a broad range of retailers, signaling households powered ahead despite higher gasoline prices. The value of retail purchases rose 0.9%, marking a fourth straight month of increases. The report shows consumer spending strengthened heading into the summer, even as average gasoline prices rose to the highest level in almost four years. “Spending is pretty broad-based. This isn’t a fluke,” said Shruti Mishra, an economist at Bank of America Corp. “The consumer appears to have made it through the worst of the energy shock relatively unharmed.” Eleven of 13 categories posted increases. Motor vehicle sales rebounded by 1.2%, the biggest advance in almost a year, while spending at online retailers rose for a fifth straight month.
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)
| Jun. 12, 2026 | Jun. 19, 2026 | Net Change | ||
| Gold | $4,221.47 | $4,155.78 | -65.69 | -1.56% |
| Silver | $68.04 | $64.83 | -3.21 | -4.72% |
| Platinum | $1,704.40 | $1,663.74 | -40.66 | -2.39% |
| Palladium | $1,278.44 | $1,257.71 | -20.73 | -1.62% |
| Dow | 51202.17 | 51564.70 | 362.53 | 0.71% |
Previous Year Comparison
| Jun. 20, 2025 | Jun. 19, 2026 | Net Change | ||
| Gold | $3,367.46 | $4,155.78 | 788.32 | 23.41% |
| Silver | $36.05 | $64.83 | 28.78 | 79.83% |
| Platinum | $1,276.22 | $1,663.74 | 387.52 | 30.36% |
| Palladium | $1,054.98 | $1,257.71 | 202.73 | 19.22% |
| Dow | 42206.02 | 51564.70 | 9358.68 | 22.17% |
Here are your Short-Term Support and Resistance Levels for the upcoming week.
| Gold | Silver | |
| Support | 4202/4040/3862 | 63.32/58.64/55.78 |
| Resistance | 4380/4542/4720 | 70.86/73.72/78.40 |
| Platinum | Palladiumn | |
| Support | 1641/1562/1484 | 1266/1213/1140 |
| Resistance | 1798/1876/1955 | 1340/1393/1466 |