Welcome to Markets Desk, your midday read on what's moving markets.
The dollar index climbed to a one-and-a-half-year high Monday, driven by a combination of safe-haven demand and rising Treasury yields. Political instability in France and Spain weighed heavily on the euro, widening interest rate differentials in the dollar's favor and giving bulls fresh momentum heading into the week.
Shifting to the macro picture, the World Bank has lifted its growth forecast for East Asia and the Pacific to four point five percent this year, but the headline number carries a warning. Trade growth outside of AI-related goods has been described as weak or negative, and the Bank is flagging concentration risks as AI investment clusters in a narrow band of firms and geographies.
In crypto, Bitcoin futures open interest shed one point four billion dollars, pulling from thirty-eight billion down to thirty-six point six billion. But spot buyers moved in to absorb the pressure, with the Hot Capital Share metric rising, suggesting younger, more active market participants are stepping in. Whether that buying has staying power through continued volatility is the question traders are watching closely.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
