Political contradictions within G7

The past week was marked by two important events: the meetings of the OPEC and the Group of Seven leaders. Oil futures rose on the expectations of the meeting, but corrected after the meeting of the cartel members. The critical tone of the G7 meeting led to an increase of demand for safe assets, including gold.

On Monday, the European stocks fell. The index DAX30 lost 0.2%. The movement was related to the criticism of the ECB policy by Angela Merkel, who accused the regulator of the weakening of the European currency. The danger of monetary policy tightening and the reduction of the ECB loans for banks led to the logical result - the stocks of the European banks showed the largest decrease.

On Tuesday, oil futuresshowed an increase. The energy market was in anticipation of OPEC's decision on further production cuts. July Brent crude futures added 0.5%. On Wednesday, the US indices advanced. The budget estimates, which were under consideration in the White House, took into account Trump's suggestions to cut taxes and infrastructure investments in the US economy. The S&P500 added 0.3%, the Dow Jones index increased by 0.5%. Both indices closed at historic highs.

Thursday was marked by the weakening of the US currency. The dollar index fell by 0.1%. The May meeting minutes of the Fed were published, noting concerns for a sharp increase of the base rate.

On Friday, the G7 meeting began, at which Donald Trump criticized the German policy and NATO allies. The growth of the political uncertainty spurred the demand for safe assets - gold updated the monthly high, adding $10 per ounce.

This week we expect the publication of Canada's GDP on Wednesday and the US labor market indicators on Thursday and Friday. The USD/CAD currency pair, on which high volatility may be observed, will represent the greatest interest. On Wednesday, the reports will be released on the group of US technology companies, including Hewlett Packard - it is worth paying attention to the Nasdaq 100 technology index.