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Wall Street opens June lower
US stock indices fell at the opening of June, amid renewed concerns about the US-China trade war.
China asserted its commitment to take all measures to defend its interests, while condemning US President Trump’s claim that China violated the Geneva trade agreement.
Otherwise, US-EU tensions deteriorated even further as Trump vowed to increase steel tariffs to 50%, with Brussels warning that such a step would hurt trade talks.
On trading, Dow Jones fell 0.4% as of 15:55 GMT, or 182 points to 42,087 points, while S&P 500 shed 0.2%, or 13 points to 5898 points, as NASDAQ gave up 0.1%, or 17 points to 19,096 points.
Copper futures rise amid tariff concerns
US copper futures rallied 6% on Monday, expanding the price gap with the London prices amid speculation about new US tariffs after Trump raised steel tariffs from 25% to 50%.
US copper futures rose 5.7% today to $4.9175 a pound, the highest since April 3, while three-month standard prices rose 1.1% to $9597 a ton at the London metals exchange.
The US-London price gap expanded to $1231 a ton, compared to $759 on Friday.
In February, Trump ordered an investigation into the use of potential tariffs on copper imports to boost US production of this critical mineral for EVs, chips, and military equipment.
Aluminium prices settled at $2443 a ton at the London Exchange away from May 12 lows at $2425, while US aluminium premium on the London price rose by 54% compared to Friday to $1279 a ton.
Lead prices rose 0.9% to $1975, while zinc added 1.7% to $2663, as tin rose 0.8% to $30,600, while nickel climbed 0.9% to $15,365.
A weaker dollar bolstered industrial metals and made them cheaper to holders of other currencies.
Bitcoin rebounds modestly from critical support levels
Bitcoin started Monday with a rebound near $105,500 after falling 5.5% last week, away from recent record highs at $112,000, with the price dropping below the Fibonacci level of 0.786, with traders aggressively collecting profits.
Despite the weakness in the last days of May, bitcoin closed the month with an 11% profit, after a 14% surge in April, sending the price towards strong resistance areas.
Recent data showed total bitcoin holdings at central exchanges fell below 2.5 million bitcoins by the end of 2025, with the decline accelerated as the price hit a record high.
It shows that major wallets are purchasing and holding bitcoins, with companies such as MicroStrategy holding 7390 bitcoins, while both MetaPlanet and GameStop increased their holdings as well.
Record Inflows to Bitcoin ETFs
Bitcoin exchange funds in the US had a record cash inflow of $5.23 billion, with some governments, such as the UAE and Pakistan also bolstering their bitcoin purchasing operations.
The Technical Side
Technically, bitcoin appears in a wait and monitor phase, with momentum indicators reflecting a mostly neutral status.
The overall technical picture remains positive for the long term.
Russia Gets on Bitcoin Train
The Russian Agricultural Bank is considering the use of bitcoin to settle grain export agreements, valued at over 49.5 million tons.
Russia has shown increasing openness to crypto adoption as a way to circumvent western sanctions.
It would open up the agricultural commodity markets to cryptocurrencies, especially with wheat transactions.
Strong Resistance
Bitcoin is trying to tackle the critical $106,000 resistance, but several short-term technical indicators are offering resistance, especially the 50-day SMA.
Bitcoin recently fell to $104,750 and tested a critical Fibonacci support before rebounding, but in the four-hour time frame, the chances of a Death Cross boosts the odds of more technical losses.