- US stocks futures were flat Wednesday, capping five straight days of gains on earnings optimism.
- Japan's trade balance weakened to its slowest in seven months, fanning inflationary fears.
- Bitcoin traded near its all-time high of $64,895 after the first futures-based ETF made its trading debut.
US stock futures were roughly flat on Wednesday, but held near record highs, after a string of third-quarter earnings results helped shore up risk appetite that has been dented recently by concerns over the longer-term impact of
Futures on the $4, $4, $4 fell between 0.01% and 0.09% as of 4:30 a.m ET, suggesting a choppy start to trading later in the day.
A total of 57 companies in the US have reported earnings so far, of which 50 have beat expectations, Deutsche Bank strategists said.
Equities appear to be overlooking the inflation story, for now, while earnings roll in, but higher oil prices keep adding to jitters. "Investor expectations of future inflation are still moving higher in many places," Deutsche Bank strategists said.
Although stocks are near record highs, bullish sentiment currently sits at a one-year low on concerns of rising consumer price pressures and disruptions to supply chains, $4.
In China, the property market remains in focus after $4 in September, their first monthly decline since April 2015.
"Evergrande and the China property developer sector have fallen off the radar in the past week or so, but the issues there have not gone away," said Jeffrey Halley, a senior market analyst at OANDA. More updates are expected on this front, as the first 30-day grace period on a series of unpaid offshore bond coupons nears, he said.
Japan's trade balance growth in September $4 in seven months. Higher import costs are fuelling fears of inflation.
Equities in Asia were mostly higher earlier in the session, but soft trading in China and Japan saw most of those gains unwind. The $4 fell 0.2%, Tokyo's $4 was about flat, while Hong Kong's $4 rose 1.1%.
In Europe, data showed $4 to 3.1% in September from 3.2% in August, largely due to a measurement quirk. But according to UBS, the forces pushing prices up are set to increase in the coming months, suggesting inflation will be moving up before the end of the year.
$4 lost 0.2%. The $4 and $4 were about flat.
Bitcoin rose 2.6% to $63,957 after the first $4 in the US on Tuesday. The ProShares ETF saw the $4 on record, with more than 24 million shares changing hands when it began trading.
The first bitcoin ETF marks "one of the most credible elements to the story that shows a pathway for major funds, institutions, and hedge funds to feel more certain about this," said Eric Schiffer, CEO of private-equity firm Patriarch Organization.
Oil slightly retreated after the Chinese government threatened to $4 to tame record high prices.
$4 fell 0.9% to $84.28 a barrel and $4 fell 0.9% to $81.62 a barrel.
Read More: $4