Asian stock markets futures marked mixed moves, with Nikkei futures flat and Hang Seng futures dipping 0.4% amid ongoing Chinese property sector stress. Currency fluctuations, especially USD/CNY near 7.25, are influencing regional equity sentiment this week. Most importantly, though, Bitcoin is scarcer. There will only ever be 21 million units in circulation. This hard supply cap can't be altered. On the other hand, if demand for gold suddenly shot up, it would become economically feasible to explore other mining techniques to grow the supply. "This is telling you that maybe the inflationary pressures that are the biggest worry, and [have] been the biggest worry in many FOMC speeches, are beginning to show more signs of life," Torsten Sløk, Apollo Global chief economist, told Yahoo Finance. (Disclosure: Yahoo Finance is owned by Apollo Global Management.) Stock markets futures in Asia rose after positive export numbers from South Korea, fueling semiconductor supplier optimism. Market watchers see this as a leading indicator for regional electronics rebound in Q
