Sawt Falasteen - Most Asian markets drop as traders weigh Fed; bitcoin eases

Bitcoin eased just below the $90,000 level it broke for the first time Wednesday when it hit a record $93,462, with observers expecting it to soon top $100,000 following pro-crypto pledges from the US president-elect.

After a tough first half of the week for Asian investors, many are trying to get back into the game via bargain-buying, but concerns over another possible China-US trade war, and Beijing's economic woes, are weighing on confidence.

Wall Street provided a tepid lead after news that US consumer prices had picked up pace last month from September, which was in line with forecasts but highlighted the slow progress in bringing inflation under control.

The figure lifted hopes that the Federal Reserve will cut rates again next month.

"This is a business-as-usual print for the Fed. Inflation is moving sideways on a year-on-year basis, but there is nothing in (the) report that would alarm the Fed," said Bank of America Global Research in a report.

"A 25-basis-point cut in December firmly remains our base case."

Still, officials at the US central bank trod a careful road.

Minneapolis Fed boss Neel Kashkari said: "Right now, I think that inflation is headed in the right direction. I've got confidence about that, but we need to wait."

"We've got another month or six weeks of data to analyse before we make any decisions," he said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

His Dallas counterpart Lorie Logan added that she saw more reductions to borrowing costs but that the neutral level -- one which supports growth but keeps inflation in check -- was uncertain.

"I think it behooves us to proceed cautiously at this point," she said.

Still, there are worries about the impact of Trump's plans to slash taxes, ease regulations and impose huge tariffs on imports -- particularly from China -- which observers say could reignite inflation.

Some players are now scaling back their bets on how many cuts the Fed will make in 2025 in response to that.

After Wall Street's flat day, Asia struggled.

Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Mumbai, Taipei, Manila, Bangkok and Jakarta all fell, though Sydney, Seoul, Singapore and Wellington eked out gains.

The dollar built on advances against its peers on the prospect that Trump's policies will keep the Fed from cutting as much as initially expected.

The greenback topped 155 yen for the first time since July, putting focus on Japanese authorities who have said they are prepared to support their unit if they considered moves to be one-sided or speculative.

The dollar was also at a more than one-year high against the euro.

In company news, Chinese tech giant Tencent rose more than one percent after an upbeat earnings announcement in which it saw forecast-beating profits in the third quarter.

It also said it saw signs of a recovery in the world's number two economy.

The results are expected to be followed this week by fellow tech titans JD.com and Alibaba, which will be pored over for signs of an improvement in Chinese domestic consumption.

- Key figures around 0710 GMT -

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.5 percent at 38,535.70 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 2.1 percent at 19,415.22

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 1.7 percent at 3,379.84 (close)

Dollar/yen: UP at 155.89 yen from 155.51 yen on Wednesday

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0557 from $1.0564

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2687 from $1.2710

Euro/pound: UP at 83.13 pence from 83.11 pence

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.6 percent at $68.02 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.6 percent at $71.88 per barrel

New York - Dow: UP 0.1 percent at 43,958.19 points (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 8,030.33 (close)

W.AbuLaban--SF-PST