Asia-Pacific traders will look to keep the risk-on momentum sustained from overnight trading when the S&P 500 index rose more than 1% in New York. Asian equity markets closed mostly higher on Monday, but technology and other high-beta stocks continue to lag amid the threat of rising interest rates. South Korea’s KOSPI index was one of Asia’s biggest gainers Monday.
Bitcoin – an asset sensitive to risk trends – gained overnight, but the cryptocurrency closed January out with a loss just north of 16%, marking its third monthly decline. BTC/USD remains over 40% lower from its November all-time high, and while that has emboldened Crypto skeptics, it is also giving BTC proponents a chance to “buy the dip.” However, the case for Bitcoin being an inflation hedge, as some suggested in 2021, is an increasingly untenable position.
