Global Markets Rally Pauses On Profit Taking, Bitcoin Stays Above $31K

Major indices worldwide traded in red on Friday as investors paused to book profits after the up rally ran out of steam. 

Futures: The Dow futures are down by 0.70%, and the S&P 500 futures are trading lower by 0.60% on the last check Friday. WTI crude futures are down by 1.58% to $52.29, and gold futures are trading lower by 0.35% at $1,859.30. Ten-year Treasury yield is down 0.8 bps at 1.099%. The VIX futures are up by 3.98% to 25.55.

Cryptocurrency: Bitcoin is trading lower by -5.3% at $31,525 on the last check, and Ethereum is down 7.87% at $1,162.90. ARK Invest CEO and research team have defended cryptocurrencies following Yellen’s comments on its illicit activity. Yellen changed her stance in a statement to the Senate committee.

Asia: Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed lower by 0.44%. The nation’s December core CPI fell 1% year-over-year. Japan’s manufacturing and services activity contracted to 49.7 and 45.7 respectively in January.

China’s Shanghai Composite index fell 0.40%, driven by losses in financials and technology stocks. China’s draft proposals on financial technology put Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd. BABA-backed Ant Group’s valuation at $108 billion. 

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 closed lower by 0.34%. The continent’s retail sales fell 4.2% MoM, and services activity contracted to 55.8.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 1.57% as investors moved from financials and retail stocks into the technology and healthcare sector.

India’s Nifty 50 index is trading lower by 1.04% at press time, led by a dip in banks, metals, healthcare, and commodity shares. Forex reserves data is due later today. South Korea’s KOSPI fell 0.64%.

Europe: Euro Stoxx 50 is trading lower by 0.56% at press time as the European Central Bank kept the interest rates unchanged but warned that rising COVID-19 cases pose a risk to economic recovery. January’s manufacturing activity contracted to 54.7, and services activity fell dipped to 45, beating the consensus on both counts.

London’s FTSE 100 is trading lower by 0.35% at publication time. U.K.’s December retail sales rose 0.3% MoM and 2.9% YoY, missing consensus on both counts. Public sector net borrowing rose to £33.38 billion. 

Germany’s DAX is down 0.50% after January’s manufacturing index contracted to 57, and the services index dipped slightly to 46.8.

France’s CAC 40 is trading down by 0.59% as January’s manufacturing and services activity slipped. 

Spain’s IBEX 35 is down 0.70% at publication time.

Forex Trading: U.S. Dollar Index futures are down 0.02% to 90.105. The dollar has weakened by 0.14% against the Euro but gained 0.36% against the Sterling Pound, 0.16% against the Japanese Yen, and 0.23% against the Chinese Yuan.

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