Cryptos, oil plummet; gold gains as new pandemic variant shakes market



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Cryptos, oil plummet; gold gains as new pandemic variant shakes market

On Friday, Bitcoin, the original cryptocurrency, drowned nearly nine per cent on mid-day European trading session, shedding more than $6,000 per coin as frets of a new pandemic pathogen variant had seesawed investors’ appetite for riskier assets with US crude tumbling over 6.0 per cent and Dow opening up the session about 2.3 per cent lower.

Apart from that, the Us Dollar Index (DXY) measured against a basket of six major currencies on an average was last trading 0.41 per cent lower to 96.24, while safe-haven yellow metal gold gained around 1.08 per cent to $1,807.75 an ounce.

Nonetheless, emerging market currencies fell across the board against their American peers with South African Rand slumping 1.35 per cent to 16.18 per Dollar and Mexican peso shrugging off 1.12 per cent to 21.80 per Dollar.

Bitcoin, riskier assets fall across the board

In factuality, as scientists were quoted saying earlier in the day that a new pandemic pathogen variant, B.1.1.529, found in S. Africa, Botswana and in a traveler in Hong Kong who had recently visited S.

Africa, might have an unusual combination of mutations and might be able to evade the human body’s usual immune response, global money markets were marred with a widespread flight-to-safety response. Besides, the S.

African Health Minister Joe Phaahla said on Thursday night, “Initially it looked like some cluster outbreaks, but from yesterday, the indication came from our scientists from the Network of Genomic Surveillance that they were observing a new variant”.

Citing statistics, in the day’s mid-day European trading hours, bitcoin, the original crypto asset, was trading 8.33 per cent lower to $53,933.40 and its smaller rival Ethereum pummeled 10.56 per cent to $4,023.50, while Litecoin took a tattering header of 12.53 per cent to $193.0.

Meanwhile, expressing fears of further downsize momentum in a near-term, “The spread of (the variant), especially to other countries, could wither investor appetite further. BTC's upside will likely be limited and the market should brace for further loss”.