Asian Market Update – Friday: Coins Plummet; Asian Stocks See Moderate Gains

The sky is falling for bitcoin cash.

All the main coins tumbled on Friday morning, with major losses seen in ethereum, litecoin bitcoin, and bitcoin cash.

Litecoin saw the largest drop as of midday Friday. The cryptocurrency was down 19 percent to $252. On Coinbase, litecoin dropped to as low as $202 right before midday. So far this week, litecoin prices has lost over 30 percent, following a 111 percent gain in the previous week.

Ethereum also saw heavy losses Friday morning, trading down by 18 percent to $655 after midday in Hong Kong. The virtual currency dropped to a low of $620 in earlier trading.

Bitcoin extended losses for a sixth consecutive day on Friday morning, losing 15 percent to $13,400 after midday in Asia. On Coinbase, the virtual currency dropped to as low as about $12,710 at one point. Since Sunday, bitcoin has lost about 30 percent, which is a correction, but still not an extreme move for the highly volatile bitcoin.

Bitcoin cash also plunged 37 percent on Friday morning to below $2,000 after midday. The price of bitcoin cash lost 17.8 percent on Thursday, following a 36.3 percent gain on Wednesday.

Main Market Movers – Mid-day Asian Trading Session

Major Asian equity markets posted fractional gains on Friday, while stocks in South Korea tumbled and the Nikkei remained flat.

In South Korea, the Kospi lost 1.96 percent to 2,478 at midday. Though tensions on the Korean Peninsula have been stable, South Korea’s relationship with China have soured after the deployment of the US THAAD anti-missile defense system earlier this year. Companies that have major business operations in China, including supermarket operator Lotte Group have suffered badly as a result. The tourism and retail sectors in South Korea have also taken a hit as a result of much lower numbers of Chinese tourists, after Chinese tour operators were banned from organizing trips from South Korea.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Index hovered around the flat line at 22,865 at midday, even though the Japanese government on Friday morning approved a budget with record high government spending for next year, expected to further boost economic growth in the Land of the Rising Sun.

On the Chinese mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.11 percent at midday on Friday to 3,303. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index moved up 0.26 percent to 29,444 as of midday.

Down under, the ASX 200 was up 0.19 at 6,071 after midday.

The S&P 500 E-Mini Futures was up 0.20 percent to 2,690.

Markets were also digesting the passage of the US tax bill in Congress, which is now expected to be signed into law by President Trump on January 3. Additionally, the US economy grew 3.2 percent in the third quarter, though that’s still below the expected 3.3 percent. Growth appears to remain robust in the world’s largest economy.

Currencies

The Japanese yen was flat against the US dollar at midday Friday, changing hands at 113.32 per dollar.

The Chinese yuan firmed 0.17 percent against the US dollar at 6.6520 per dollar.

The Australian dollar also firmed 0.12 percent on the dollar, changing hands at 1.2966 per dollar at midday.

Commodities

WTI Oil was down 0.03 percent to $58.19 per barrel at midday on Friday.

Brent Crude was up 0.14 percent to $64.82 per barrel.

Gold lost 0.05 percent to $1,265 an ounce.

News across Asia

In China, the Ministry of Commerce on Thursday protested a decision from the EU to change a “non-market economy list” on its anti-dumping laws to “significant market distortion,” which would make it easier for the EU to launch anti-dumping investigations against Chinese product. The Chinese commerce ministry said the decision is “unfair” and “runs counter to WTO rules.”

Take away: Though China-EU trade ties have been largely stable, apart from disputes in the steel and solar panel sectors, the tension is certainly rising and could jeopardize future cooperation.

In Japan, the Japanese government approved a record spending of $860 billion for fiscal year 2018/19 on Friday. Coupled with its decision on Thursday to leave the low borrowing costs unchanged, the move points to the Japanese government’s determination to further boost economic growth in the new year.

Take away: Though economic conditions have been improving for the world’s third-largest economy, constantly missed inflation targets pose challenges for the BOJ. 

Featured image from Pixabay.

Disclaimer: The author owns bitcoin, ethereum and litecoin. He holds investment positions in the coins, but does not engage in short-term trading.