(Bloomberg) — Stocks in Asia are set to start the week mixed amid volatile trading in high-risk assets such as Bitcoin and ongoing concerns about the outlook for inflation. Currencies were steady in early trading.
Bitcoin experienced another weekend of extreme price swings, continuing to whipsaw investors with double-digit percentage moves. On Friday, the S&P 500 closed little changed after erasing earlier gains, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 finished lower. Futures edged higher in Japan and were modestly lower in Australia and Hong Kong.
Bitcoin traded down about 12% as of 4:32 p.m. in New York, while other cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum and Dogecoin, also slumped, according to CoinGecko.com. Earlier in the weekend, Bitcoin had climbed more than 8% to move back above $38,000, following a tweet from Elon Musk.
Stocks came off a volatile week, with speculative ardor cooling as minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting flagged the possibility of a debate at some point on scaling back stimulus measures. Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker said the central bank should speak about reducing bond buying sooner rather than later.
Meanwhile, the global economic revival, the risk of a significant pickup in inflation, and Covid-19 flareups in some parts of the world continue to shape market moves.
“The inflation scare is likely to linger for a while yet as the earlier surge in commodity prices and bottlenecks continues to feed through which is likely to push bond yields higher and risk a further correction in shares in the next few months,” Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy and chief economist at AMP Capital, said in a note. “The crypto slide may be having a negative impact on share markets in the short term — as crypto speculators sell shares to cover their crypto losses — but it looks marginal.”
Here are some events this week week:
Consensus by CoinDesk brings prominent crypto voices together to discuss NFTs, exchanges and the role of central banks. Fed Governor Lael Brainard and Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio will participate. Through May 27.Bank of Indonesia rate decision TuesdayReserve Bank of New Zealand policy decision; Governor Adrian Orr briefing WednesdayCEOs of the largest U.S. banks, including JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, will testify before lawmakers in the Senate Banking and House Financial Services committees WednesdayBank of Korea rate decision Thursday
These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The S&P 500 ended little changed on Friday The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.5% on Friday Nikkei 225 futures rose 0.3%Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index futures fell 0.1%Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index futures fell 0.2% earlier
Currencies
The Japanese yen was at 108.91 per dollarThe offshore yuan traded at 6.4367The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%The euro was at $1.2178
Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 1.62% Friday
Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.5% to $63.58 a barrel FridayGold rose 0,2% to $1,881.25 an ounce Friday
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