Palladium prices rose on Tuesday even as the dollar rallied against most major rivals, with the industrial metal boosted by supply disruption concerns as the Russia-Ukraine war deteriorated. 

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. 

Following the peace talks, both Ukraine and Russia escalated the war heavily with one of the biggest drone battles so far, with a Russian high-speed bridge blown up above a passenger train, while Ukraine targeted nuclear-capable bombers in Siberia. 

Ukrainian President Zelensky said his defense minister will meet Russian officials for the second round of direct peace talks in Istanbul on Monday.

The first round led to a prisoner exchange but with no agreement on a ceasefire. 

Even as the talks are ongoing, nearly 7 people were killed and 69 injured after a Russian bridge was blown away, while Ukraine targeted nuclear-capable bombers over 4300 kilometers away from the frontline.

The attack was planned for over a year and a half now, and managed to hit 41 Russian fighter planes, with the losses estimated at $7 billion.

Zelensky praised the results, and pointed to the use of 117 drones in the attack independently. 

The Russian forces acknowledged the attack, which led to fires in multiple airports before being doused, with Russia sending 472 drones against Ukraine during the night. 

Otherwise, the dollar index rose 0.4% as of 15:36 GMT to 99.1, with a session-high at 99.3, and a low at 98.5.

On trading, palladium September futures rose 2.5% as of 15:36 GMT to $1018 an ounce. 

Bitcoin rose mildly on Tuesday and recouped some recent losses even as the crypto market remains limited in a tight range of trading amid mounting uncertainty about US tariffs. 

The world’s most valuable cryptocurrency fell to $103,000 during the weekend on profit-taking away from record highs at $112,000.

An announcement by Strategy that it purchased $75 million worth of bitcoins failed to boost the market sufficiently, with prices up a modest 0.5% so far today to $105,319.

Weak Sentiment Impacts Prices

Prices are impacted by a weak market sentiment, as the US and China trade blows and accusations about violating the latest Geneva agreement. 

The threat of the collapse in US-Iran nuclear talks, and mounting geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine also hurt market sentiment and crypto prices.

Coinbase Knew about the Data Breach Beforehand 

Reuters reported that Coinbase Global knew about the major data breach months before announcing it. 

The incident caused the company nearly $400 million, with pirates reaching the clients data and asking for a $20 million ransom, and all was known by the company for multiple months releasing the information.

Timid Recovery

Cryptocurrencies are recovering today, with ethereum up 4.5% to $2606, while ripple rose 1.5% to $2.2030.

Both Solana and Cardano rose 2%, while polygon added 1.6%.

With meme currencies, Dogecoin rose 2.7%, while $Trump rose 0.7%.

Bullish Outlook 

Fundstrat’s co-founder Tom Lee has predicted an explosive increase in bitcoin’s value to $250 thousand this year, and $3 million in the long term.

He believes the demand aspect on bitcoin will expand massively in the next ten years, with space for prices to rise aggressively even this year, potentially towards $250,000.

He believes bitcoin to be more valuable than gold, and might even reach $2 or $3 million in the long term.

The US dollar tumbled today against most major rivals and relinquished last week’s gains amid concerns about US President Donald Trump’s tariff policies and their impact on growth and inflation.

The dollar was hurt after Trump announced plans to double the steel and aluminum tariffs to 50%, while China and the US traded criticism and accusations of violating the recent trade agreement in Geneva.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said both President Trump and his Chinese counterpart will talk on the phone soon, and assured the markets that the issues will be solved. 

High Selling Pressures 

The dollar tumbled 0.8% to 142.85 yen, almost erasing all of its gains on the yen last week, while the euro rose 0.8% to $1.14355, the highest since late April, as analysts now await the European Central Bank’s policy meeting and decisions this week. 

The dollar extended its losses after data showed US manufacturing shrank for the third straight month in May, while European manufacturing is showing signs of stabilization. 

Dollar’s Losses

The dollar index fell 0.6% against a basket of major rivals to 98.75, approaching a three-year nadir at 97.923.

The US dollar suffered weeks of volatile trading due to Trump’s changing tariff policies, amid persistent concerns about a US recession.

It fell 3% in the week after the Liberation Day’s tariffs in April, andfell 1.9% in the week after Trump’s threats to impose 50% tariffs on EU goods.

The dollar had a transient recovery last week as the US resumed trade talks with the EU and a US trade court suspended Trump’s tariffs, but a day later, the appeals court stayed the tariffs.

Goldman Sachs expects that 10% tariffs will continue to apply on major US trade partners, in turn bolstering the “sell America” narrative as investors flee US assets.

And this week, the Senate will discuss Trump’s tax reform bill, which could add $3.8 trillion to the US government debt pile in the next 10 years.

A particular sticking point in the bill in section 899, giving the US freedom to impose taxes on corporations and investors from countries that impose “unfair taxes” on US goods and companies.

Such a bill would massively hurt global investor sentiment and interest in the US market.

Silver prices fell over 2% in European trade on Tuesday away from eight-month highs on profit-taking as the dollar rebounds against major rivals. 

It comes ahead of crucial US labor data, which would provide clues on the odds of the Fed rate cuts this year. 

Prices

Silver prices fell 2.2% today to $33.97 an ounce, with a session-high at $34.77.

On Monday, silver rose 5.5%, the second profit in three days, and the largest in 2025 on strong retail demand. 

US Dollar

The dollar index rose over 0.35% on Tuesday away from six-week lows 99.58 against a basket of major rivals.

The dolar’s recovery comes as the Trump administration seeks to calm recent jitters with China and restore business confidence in the US.

The White House said President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart will speak this week after days of mutual accusations of violating the trade agreement in Geneva.

US Rates

Fed official Christopher Waller said rate cuts later this year are still possible even if Trump’s tariffs lead to price pressures.

According to the Fedwatch tool, the odds of a Fed 0.25% June interest rate cut stood at 2%, while the odds of a July rate cut stood at 24%.

Now traders expect 50 basis points of US rate cuts overall this year, starting October.