Table of Contents Show
Leaders and Laggers – May 21 N.A. Session Close
Log in to today’s North American session recap – May 21, 2025
Today’s session was characterized by sharp volatility across markets, driven by broad USD weakness and the U.S. 30-year yield reaching the 5% mark. The Dollar Index fell 0.4%, after dipping as much as 0.72%, fueling notable rallies in both Gold and Bitcoin.
Among major currencies, the Japanese Yen emerged as the top performer. As for the weakest link—no surprises there.
/*
Requesting advertisement by calling an endpoint assures that
the advertisement is never cached together with the page.
1jpEC – is a forced measure to prevent JS function from
being overwritten.
*/
function load_advertisement_1jpEC(){
let adSlot = document.getElementById(‘ad-slot-container-1jpEC’);
fetch(‘/load-advertisement/26/?is_sidebar=False’)
.then(response => response.text())
.then(html => {
adSlot.outerHTML = html;
})
.catch(error => {
console.error(‘Error fetching the template:’, error);
});
}
load_advertisement_1jpEC();
A picture of today's performance for all currencies
{
const imageElement = document.getElementById(‘pinch-to-zoom-img-318’);
if (imageElement) {
panzoom(imageElement, {
maxZoom: 4.0,
minZoom: 0.5,
contain: ‘outside’,
});
}
}, 100);
}
}
}”
x-init=”$watch(‘imgModal’, value => initPanzoom())”
class=”flex “>
close
Currency Performance, May 21 — Source: OANDA Labs
The US Dollar was once again the elephant in the room — a weak 20Y Bond auction sent yields higher. Most other major currencies were not subject to such moves between each other, it was really all about the USD today.
The standout performer for today’s session was the Yen which closed green against all other majors – This is kind of a surprise as rises in US Yields tend to correlate with a depreciation in the Yen. Though correlations are not causations and in today’s volatile markets, anything can happen.
The Greenback did not finish the North-American session at its lows though. Take a peak at the DXY intra-day chart right below.
Chart of the Day – DXY intra-day
{
const imageElement = document.getElementById(‘pinch-to-zoom-img-5609’);
if (imageElement) {
panzoom(imageElement, {
maxZoom: 4.0,
minZoom: 0.5,
contain: ‘outside’,
});
}
}, 100);
}
}
}”
x-init=”$watch(‘imgModal’, value => initPanzoom())”
class=”flex “>
close
DXY 15m Chart, May 21 — Source: TradingView
Most of the down-trending action in the USD happened in yesterday and overnight’s sessions, as prices were stuck in a steep bear channel (pink).
USD buyers broke that steep channel though prices found themselves trapped below the 99.80 level.
The rejection from these mid-day highs led to the formation of a more rangebound, slightly descending channel.
Markets will be waiting for tomorrow’s PMI releases before we can expect more volatility.
What happened in Commodities and Crypto?
Gold closed at $3,316, up approximately 0.8% on the day. The precious metal continues to benefit from safe-haven demand following Moody’s downgrade of the U.S. credit rating.
Bitcoin rallied massively in the NA Morning Session, tip-toeing but breaking the January All-time Highs – BTC was up 3.1% at today’s peak. The new all-time high print shows $109,909.
Oil (WTI) experienced a volatile session, tried to break out on the upside touching $64.36 per barrel but came right back into the $60.5 to $64 range. Oil closed down $1.62 from it’s overnight highs, down 2.65%
Economic Calendar for the May 22, 2025 Session
{
const imageElement = document.getElementById(‘pinch-to-zoom-img-4303’);
if (imageElement) {
panzoom(imageElement, {
maxZoom: 4.0,
minZoom: 0.5,
contain: ‘outside’,
});
}
}, 100);
}
}
}”
x-init=”$watch(‘imgModal’, value => initPanzoom())”
class=”flex “>
close
MarketPulse Economic Calendar for May 22, 2025 (click to enlarge)
Tomorrow’s session is filled with Key Data. PMI’s are coming from European countries with the UK, Germany and Europe in the overnight session.
The NA session will be occupied with US PMI releases and a speech by Bank of Canada Governor TIff Macklem.
In the Asian session, we will see the release of the Japanese CPI.
Safe Trades!
/*
Requesting advertisement by calling an endpoint assures that
the advertisement is never cached together with the page.
A5UsA – is a forced measure to prevent JS function from
being overwritten.
*/
function load_advertisement_A5UsA(){
let adSlot = document.getElementById(‘ad-slot-container-A5UsA’);
fetch(‘/load-advertisement/30/?is_sidebar=False’)
.then(response => response.text())
.then(html => {
adSlot.outerHTML = html;
})
.catch(error => {
console.error(‘Error fetching the template:’, error);
});
}
load_advertisement_A5UsA();
Opinions are the authors’; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors.
If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please refer to the MarketPulse Terms of Use.
Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets.
© {CURRENT_YEAR} OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.
