The main story of the first day of June’s last week was a flash-crash that occured on metals early in the morning. Both gold and silver fell sharply in a few seconds, but the reason of such move is yet to be known. 

The most likely factor standing behind such amazing decline was so-called ’fat finger’ or a mistake in placing an order, a situation well-known to traders. When prices sunk volume shot up to 1.8 million ounces a level not reached even with the surprise election of U.S. President Donald Trump or Britain’s vote to leave the European Union. Some argued that a trader may have made a larger order than intended, or underestimated the market’s ability to absorb so much gold. As a result, there were as much as 18,149 lots traded on Comex within just a minute, before falling back towards 2,334 lots an hour later.

European bourses closed higher on Monday as banks rallied on the news that Italy had reached a deal to wind up two ailing regional banks. Italian authorities said Sunday they would be prepared to spend as much as 17 billion euros as part of the closure of two regional banks, in a deal which is set to transfer the banks’ best assets to Intesa Sanpaolofor a nominal sum. The move comes two days after the European Central Bank (ECB) warned that Banca Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca were likely to fail. Intesa Sanpaolo shares were higher by 3.5 percent on Monday.

The latest CFTC report revealed a noteworthy change in speculative investors’s perception. This shift could create a trade idea on the cross NZDCAD as the pair could become the most exposed from that point of view.  Speculative investors added fresh longs on the New Zealand increasing the net positioning to more than 21k, the highest level since 2013

The Japanese Nikkei225 (JAP225 on xStation5 platform) advanced by 0.07% and the Australian S&P/ASX200 (AU200) rose by a tepid 0.1% but both Chinese indices showed a more decisive moves with Shanghai Comp up by 0.69% and Hans Seng CE (CHNComp) rising by 0.53% as of early European trade. There was not much news accompanying investors after the weekend so this benign trade helped bulls in what seems to be an attempt to carry another solid quarter until the close.

The long-awaited decision has been ultimately announced, there is little surprise though as it was broadly expected following the UK’s snap elections fallout. However, the British pound is rebounding as the agreement between the May’s party and the Northern Irish DUP ends a period of uncertainty with regard to forming the new government. The “confidence and supply” deal aims to allow May’s party to govern despite losing its parliamentary majority in the general election earlier this month (a hung parliament). 

Last week brought a slightly stronger dollar, which was mainly due to mildly hawkish speeches from the FOMC members. It seems that the Federal Reserve sticks to its plan and is not worried about negative developments in inflation, but the upcoming week could change such view. PCE index due on Friday is a crucial measure to watch if the FED is to raise rates again in upcoming months.