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Stock markets are mostly higher as the week gets underway, boosted by the perceived increased likelihood that the Fed will cut rates by 0.75% at least over 2025.

1. The standout story as the new week begins is the renewed strength we see in stock markets as it becomes very clear following last week's weak US jobs data that the Fed is bound to cut rates at its next meeting, and probably at the following two meetings remaining in 2025 as well. With no high-impact events scheduled until Wednesday (US inflation), a clear path to continuing gains today and tomorrow can be seen. The S&P 500 Index and the Nasdaq 100 Index remain near their record highs, with the S&P 500's high made just last week.
2. Gold and Silver remain relatively bullish following last week's strong breakouts, with Gold still looking stronger than Silver. Trend traders will still either be in long trades here or keeping a close eye out for any new highs. Precious metals are in a strong long-term bullish trend, especially Gold. However, so far today we are seeing minor bearish retracements.
3. The Forex market has started the week with a bit more volatility than we have seen yesterday, with the New Zealand Dollar the strongest major currency on the day, and the Japanese Yen the weakest, putting the NZD/JPY currency cross in focus. Weakness in the Japanese Yen is a persistent theme, which many analysts explain as a growing belief that even though Japan's GDP growth has become more positive, it is not yet strong enough to justify any rate hikes.
4. There are no high-impact data releases scheduled today.

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