National currencies and stock markets were lower this week; cryptocurrencies, bonds, and commodities were mixed. Ethereum and palladium reversed course to become the week's largest winners, gaining 2.9% each. Platinum earned honorable mention, rising 2.8%. The table's largest losses were in coffee and copper which fell 5.6% and 2.5% respectively, but the UK FTSE index (not in table) dropped 2.8%.
The largest loss in a national currency was in the British Pound Sterling (not in table) which declined 2.6%. The US Dollar and the Euro tied for second place, falling 2.4% each. The Japanese Yen outperformed, giving up just 1.0%. Bonds did much better than cash, as the short term SHY declined 0.9% and the long term TLT added 0.3%.
Bitcoin rose over the weekend, reaching a high of 152.7 grams on Sunday, then declined to a low of 143.4 on Thursday, but recovered to close at 149.6 grams, off 0.3%. The sudden recovery on Friday seems to be linked to the US drone strikes in Iraq; it is reported that Bitcoin traded as high as $29,000 USD on Iranian exchanges that day (I don't know what gold traded for in Iran at that time, so I can't give a proper gold price for BTC.) Ethereum followed a similar pattern but finished up 2.9%. Some smaller cryptos did even better; DASH (not in table) ended the week up 9.3%.
As previously mentioned, the UK FTSE index (not in table) led declines among the equities, falling 2.8%. The Euro STOXX FEZ came in second, dropping 1.5%. The Japanese Nikkei shows a loss of just 0.4%, but had a very short trading period ending on Dec 30th. Gold stocks also outperformed, giving up 0.7%.
Precious metals did well this week, as palladium climbed 2.9% and platinum gained 2.8%. Silver and crude oil vied for third place, adding 1.1% each. The worst losses were in coffee, down 5.6%, and copper, off 2.5%.
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