Taper talk troubles stocks, bitcoin attempts to rebound

Taper talk troubles stocks, bitcoin attempts to rebound

SINGAPORE/TOKYO - Stock markets struggled for traction on Thursday after a jittery session on Wall Street where cryptocurrencies crashed and a hint of tapering talk from the U.S. Federal Reserve drove selling in the bond market while lifting the safe-haven dollar. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.04%. Stocks in South Korea fell 0.34%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.72%, but Japan's Nikkei rose 0.43%. Euro Stoxx 50 futures were up 0.64%, German DAX futures also rose 0.64%, and FTSE futures were up 0.88%, pointing to a positive start to the European session. Bitcoin, which plunged as much as 30% to $30,000 overnight, was struggling for support around $39,000. U.S. stock futures were flat. Commodities also fell, Treasuries nursed losses while the dollar held overnight gains. Fed minutes published on Wednesday said "a number" of officials thought that if the recovery holds up, it might be appropriate to "begin discussing a plan for adjusting the pace of asset purchases". "This is very much the market view, really," ING economist Rob Carnell said on the phone from Singapore, with traders expecting strong hints over summer that the taper is coming and that policy support could start