Global Markets Slip, Bitcoin Trades Near $38K, With Biden's Stimulus Plan In Focus

Major indices worldwide traded lower on Friday, following Wall Street's Thursday decline on jobless claims jumping unexpectedly. President-elect Biden unveiled his ambitious $1.9 trillion Covid-relief stimulus plan Thursday evening. The outgoing Trump administration continued to pressure China by adding Xiaomi Corp (OTC: XIACF) and CNOOC Ltd (NYSE: CEO) to the sanctioned list of blacklisted firms.

Futures: The Dow futures are down by 0.31%, and the S&P 500 futures are trading lower by 0.30% on the last check Friday. WTI crude futures are down by 1.01% to $53.03, and gold futures are flat at $1,851.20. Ten-year Treasury yield is down by 1.8 bps at 1.111%. The VIX futures are up by 1.19% to 23.45.

Cryptocurrency: Bitcoin is trading up 2.06% at $38,737 on the last check, and Ethereum rallied 7.65% at $1,234.90. Bitcoin briefly crossed the $40,000 mark on Thursday, while cryptocurrency Polkadot outpaced the weekly gains made by Bitcoin and Ethereum to emerge as the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

Asia: Japan's Nikkei 225 closed lower by 0.62%, snapping a five-session rally. The nation's Tertiary activity index fell 0.7% month-over-month, and foreigners remained net buyers of Japanese stocks and bonds for the week ending Jan 8. 

China's Shanghai Composite closed near flat, as technology and consumer stocks pushed the index lower, partially offset by gains in financials stocks. CNOOC Ltd, china's third-biggest driller, was added to the U.S. Commerce Department's sanction list for ties to the Chinese military. The nation's house prices rose 3.8% YoY in December.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 closed down flat on Friday. The continent's home loans rose 5.5% MoM.

See also: How to Invest Your $1,400 Stimulus Check

Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.27%, with smartphone maker Xiaomi's stock crashing more than 10% after the U.S. Department of Defense added the company to the sanction list prohibiting investments from November 2021.

India's Nifty 50 index is trading down by 1.16% at press time, dragged lower by technology, PSU banks, and pharma stocks. Bank loan growth and trade balance data are due later today.

South Korea's KOSPI shed 2.03%, its biggest loss in over two months. The central bank left the interest rates unchanged at 0.50%, and the nation's trade balance surplus narrowed to KRW6.77 billion, with exports rising 12.6% YoY.

Europe: Euro Stoxx 50 is trading lower by 0.33% at press time. The bloc's November trade balance surplus narrowed to €25.8 billion, missing the consensus of €26 billion.

London's FTSE 100 is down by 0.31% at publication time. U.K.'s GDP fell 2.6% MoM, and November industrial production fell 0.1% MoM. Its trade balance deficit expanded to £16.01 billion, and construction output rose 1.9% MoM.

Germany's DAX is trading lower by 0.35%.

France's CAC 40 has dipped 0.49%, as the nation's CPI rose 0.2% MoM. Its budget balance deficit expanded to €176.9 billion. 

Spain's IBEX 35 is down 0.26% at publication time. The country's CPI rose 0.2% MoM, and HICP fell 0.6% YoY.

Forex Trading: U.S. Dollar Index futures are up 0.17% to 90.365. The dollar has strengthened by 0.16% against the Euro, 0.33% against the Sterling Pound but lost 0.10% against the Japanese Yen, and 0.01% against the Chinese Yuan.

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