This week national currencies were lower, while other asset classes were mixed. The largest gains were in palladium, up 4.6%, and Bitcoin, which rose 4.3%. Coffee, off 3.2%, and gold stocks, down 2.8%, saw the largest losses.
National currencies were all lower, led by the Chinese Yuan which closed down 0.5%. The Japanese Yen fell the least, dropping just 0.1%. The US and Canadian Dollars each fell 0.4%. SHY, the short term bond fund, also dropped 0.4%, while TLT, the long term bond fund, fell 0.6%.
Bitcoin worked its way higher throughout the week, closing near its weekly high at 182 grams, up 4.3%. It has continued to rise since, closing Tuesday at 192.3 grams. Ethereum has oscillated between 7.1 grams and 7.6 grams, but ended the week at 7.3 grams, off 0.4%. As of Tuesday, it was trading at 7.5 grams.
Japanese shares gained more than any other equities as the Nikkei rose 1.1%. Gold stocks were the worst performers: the HUI fell 2.8%. The European STOXX were also hit hard, dropping 2.8%. The S&P 500 rose 0.5%.
The commodities sector had both the largest gains (palladium, up 4.6%) and the largest losses (coffee, down 3.2%) among all asset classes. Copper fell 2.2%, while crude oil gained 1.2%. Silver was little changed, down 0.2%. Platinum was up 0.4%, but still hovers just above its all-time lows.
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