Equities markets around the world are falling. A single drop from a single market is usually not enough for a well diversified investor to panic, large > 1% drops from all major markets are. China was the first market to drop yesterday with a 7% decline triggering an automated circuit breaker designed to kerb panic and short sellers - this control measure usually serves to cool off markets and prevent rapid market collapses.
The Americans when they woke up and saw the activity in China and proceeded to sell un-necessary holdings, the Dow jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite all closed between 1-1.5% lower (these are baskets of stock prices from leading companies used to gauge the performance of different sectors of the US economy). Oil prices dropping also marked a slow down in energy consumption which fed bearish news.
Meanwhile as the Brits woke up, they saw global markets falling and knew that their own portfolios would lose value due to their exposure to the other two major markets, as well as Oil prices dropping rapidly. The FTSE 100 (this tracks the price of the top 100 companies on the London Stock Exchange) opens the day almost 2% lower.
Bitcoin is increasingly being seen as a 'safe haven' asset class. Just like gold, when markets tumble, savvy traders will look to reduce their exposure in the equities market and increase their exposure in safe assets.
Gold is up - via Nasdaq
https://i.imgur.com/bWq7GUH.pngBitcoin is up and currently touching $450.
The one benefit to Bitcoin as a globally traded currency is that it is easily bought and sold when compared to equities across the world. Did we also mention its utilitarian value?
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A bitcoin savings, trading and investment platform.
Drop a comment down below if you want us to produce more posts about global economics. Currency markets may be a good one for us to cover.