The RBA kept its interest rate at 4.35%. Silver hit a 7‑week high

On Monday, US stock indices closed slightly lower. By the end of the day, the Dow Jones (US30) fell by 0.11%. The S&P 500 (US500) declined by 0.06%. The Tech‑heavy NASDAQ (US100) ended Monday in negative territory at 0.32%. The main reason for the correction was investor concern about the future trajectory of Federal Reserve interest rates amid renewed growth in oil prices and persistent geopolitical tensions around the Strait of Hormuz. Rising energy prices increased inflation risks, pushing bond yields higher and worsening sentiment toward risk assets.

Nvidia shares dropped 2.9% following news of a massive $500 billion financing package for artificial‑intelligence projects involving major Wall Street institutions. Intel shares fell 4.1% after the company announced plans to issue $15 billion in stock to fund infrastructure projects. Apple shares also declined by 1.5% after Jefferies analysts downgraded the stock to “underperform.”

Germany’s DAX (DE40) rose by 0.02%, France’s CAC 40 (FR40) closed up 0.13%, Spain’s IBEX 35 (ES35) slipped by 0.02%, and the UK’s FTSE 100 (UK100) ended the session down 0.35%. Market participants largely ignored rising sovereign‑bond yields, despite ongoing geopolitical uncertainty surrounding Middle Eastern energy supplies, which continued to support inflation risks. Energy companies showed strong performance amid recovering oil and natural‑gas prices: shares of TotalEnergies gained 2%.

Silver prices (XAG) jumped above $63.5 per ounce, reaching their highest level in seven weeks. The main catalyst was weakening expectations of further Federal Reserve rate hikes this year. At the same time, the market received a strong boost from robust industrial demand. According to June data, China’s imports of silver‑bearing ores rose 62.5% year‑over‑year to 219,000 tons amid rapid expansion of the national power grid and record‑high production of solar panels.
US natural‑gas prices (XNG) surged more than 4%, reaching $2.785 per MMBtu. The main driver was a noticeable spike in demand from liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporters. Daily supply volumes to the nine largest US LNG facilities were expected to reach a monthly high of 17.9 billion cubic feet, compared with an average of 17.2 billion cubic feet per day in July (just shy of June’s record of 17.4 billion cubic feet).

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 (JP225) jumped sharply by 2.08%, China’s FTSE China 50 closed slightly lower at 0.05%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng (HK50) rose by 1.05%, and Australia’s ASX 200 (AU200) ended Friday down 0.33%. Singapore’s SG20 Index posted gains for the third consecutive session amid strong macroeconomic data: official statistics revised Singapore’s Q2 GDP upward from 5.7% to 5.9%. The main driver of the economy remains resilient external demand linked to AI development, although the figure was below the 6.3% growth recorded in Q1.

The Australian dollar (AUD) fell below 0.705 USD, giving up part of its recent gains after reaching an eight‑week high. The correction followed the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) decision to keep the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4.35% for the second consecutive meeting, fully in line with broad market expectations. According to the RBA’s updated macroeconomic expectations, both headline and core inflation will reach the midpoint of the 2.5% target range only by early 2028, while the unemployment rate is expected to rise moderately in the near term. In light of these signals, market traders adjusted their expectations, reducing the probability of another rate hike before year‑end.