Summary:

• Italian stocks erase early advance

• Antipodean currencies rally

• Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index has declined almost 25% since inception

The optimism seen across the European stock markets in the morning has waned already. Following higher opening major stock indices from the Old Continent marched south erasing all of their gains. AUD and NZD advance against all its major peers while Swiss franc is the biggest underperformer. Gold and silver trade lower while platinum advances. Oil declines and so does industrial metals market. Trading in the afternoon may be subdued as US stock markets will remain shut today due to holiday.

EURUSD has been falling like a stone lately and there were good reasons for that. Initially it was about the US dollar that’s been gaining as the second hike this year is increasingly closer. However European stories added to the concerns and pushed the pair even lower.

Litecoin continues nearing its important demand zone placed a touch above $100. This level might be perceived as outstandingly relevant by many cryptocurrency traders, and therefore it may matter a lot for this digital currency going forward.

Deutsche Post is one of the biggest gainers among the German blue chips at the beginning of the first trading session of the week. Good performance of the company’s stock can be accounted to the Bild am Sonntag report released yesterday. Newspaper hinted that Deutsche Post is planning to increase mailing fee.

Several days in Italian politics is a real long period of time. Yet a few days ago we were close to a new government, and the only sticking point was who would be prime minister, since then things have dramatically changed.

Following a week where geopolitical developments dominated the markets we are in for an interesting week in terms of reports, especially for the EURUSD. Inflation on both fronts and the always anticipated NFP report will shape the outlook for the pair.