Asia Market Open: Bitcoin Holds Near $90K, Regional Stocks Lose Momentum Despite Fed Cut Expectations

Bitcoin hovered around the $90k mark in Asian trading on Friday, while regional stocks struggled for direction as investors weighed a powerful global rebound against signs that the rally may be running out of steam.

The largest cryptocurrency traded in a tight band between about $90,600 and $91,400 after touching roughly $91,800 in the past 24 hours.

A global equity gauge was little changed, yet still on track for its best week since June as traders leaned into the idea that the Federal Reserve is finally ready to start cutting interest rates.

Market snapshot

• Bitcoin: $90,868, down 0.2%
• Ether: $3,001, down 1.6%
• XRP: $2.17, down 2.2%
• Total crypto market cap: $3.18 trillion, down 0.9%

China Remains In Focus After JPMorgan Turns Overweight On The Market

Asian equities opened mixed. Indexes in South Korea and Japan slipped at the open, while Australia edged higher in thin, holiday-affected trading after the US Thanksgiving break.

Chinese shares stayed in focus after JPMorgan lifted its view on the market to overweight, arguing that the potential upside next year now outweighs the risk of further losses, even as stress at developers such as China Vanke kept property names under pressure.

Across assets, the week’s tone has been driven by Fed expectations. Futures markets are now pricing in roughly an 80% to 85% chance of a quarter-point cut next month and are leaning toward three reductions by the end of 2026.

That shift has helped global stocks recover most of their November losses, which had been driven by worries that richly valued AI names were flashing bubble warnings.

In bonds, a sharp rally in Treasuries has cooled. The 10-year yield held around 4% after stronger-than-expected US labour market data interrupted the slide.

Jobs Data And Fed Signals Strengthen Case For A December Cut

Yields had been falling since late last week after delayed September jobs figures painted a mixed picture, then dropped further when New York Fed President John Williams said he saw room for a rate cut in the near term as the labour market softened.

Trading volumes have been thinner than usual. A holiday-shortened week and the earlier 43-day US government shutdown, which left official data releases badly delayed, have pushed investors to lean more on Fed speakers for guidance.

Recent comments from officials including San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly and Governor Christopher Waller have reinforced expectations for a December move.

ETF Flows Slow But Stay Positive With BlackRock Still Dominant

On the crypto side, US spot Bitcoin ETFs continued to pull in money, although at a slower pace than during the early-year surge.

Data from SoSoValue showed daily total net inflows of about $21.m on Nov. 26, bringing cumulative net inflows to roughly $57.6b. Total trading value for the day reached about $4.6b, with net assets across the ETF complex at around $117.7b, equal to about 6.6% of Bitcoin’s market value.

Flows again centred on BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, or IBIT, which saw roughly $42.8m in net inflows for the day and now holds about $69.9b in assets. Fidelity’s FBTC posted an outflow of about $33.3m, while Grayscale’s converted GBTC vehicle recorded a modest $5.6m inflow but still shows cumulative net outflows of about $25b since spot ETFs launched.

Smaller products from Bitwise, Ark 21Shares, VanEck and others were broadly flat on the day, with only single digit millions of fresh money moving in.

Those numbers show the significant shift in structural demand toward regulated vehicles. IBIT alone accounts for roughly 3.9% of the Bitcoin market, according to the SoSoValue dashboard, while the broader ETF suite now represents a meaningful slice of circulating supply.

For traders in Asia waking up to a slightly softer crypto board and wobbling local equities, the combination of heavy ETF ownership and rising Fed cut odds is likely to set the tone into the year-end, even if price action in both Bitcoin and stocks looks more cautious after an explosive week.

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