Asian equities were headed for weekly losses as U.S. Treasury yields resumed climbing, while Bitcoin traded near $74,300 and gold held around $4,513 an ounce. Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.8% at Friday’s open, extending its weekly decline to 4.4% before recovering slightly. South Korea and Taiwan edged higher on Friday but still ended the week lower, while the MSCI Asia-Pacific index outside Japan gained only 0.5%. The 30-year Treasury yield reached 5.25% and the 10-year yield hit 4.71%, renewing concerns about record debt, a U.S. budget deficit above 6% of GDP and interest payments expected to exceed $1.2 trillion this year. Secretary Scott Bessent said the government could expand bond repurchases and raised the possibility of fiscal consolidation, though analysts question whether Washington can find sufficient spending cuts. Bitcoin and gold benefited from a broader flight from risk, a weaker dollar and a debasement narrative, with gold up 3.1% for the week and JPMorgan’s $5,000 target coming into view. The key question is whether the two assets continue acting as hedges or are pulled lower by a broader market decline, potentially triggered by Nvidia’s results next week.