In early Asian trading on Tuesday November 12, Bitcoin approached the $90,000 mark, propelled by a “Trump effect”while Chinese stock markets await earnings announcements and Tokyo resumes its upward trend.
Bitcoin’s non-stop rise
Bitcoin is smashing its own records one after the other, nearing the $90,000 mark on Tuesday morning. The leading digital currency by capitalization peaked at $89,599 at around 23:20 GMT on Monday, before retreating to $89,200 at around 01:30 GMT on Tuesday.
Cryptocurrencies continue to soar with the return to the White House of Donald Trump, who promises to deregulate the sector, going against the grain of the more restrictive approach favored by current President Joe Biden. “Trump’s pro-crypto-currency stance and his bold promise to make the U.S. the “bitcoin and cryptocurrency capital of the world” have injected new fuel into the digital currency frenzy”said Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management.
Chinese stock markets await results
In early Hong Kong trading, the Hang Seng index was down 0.48% at 20,329.89 points at around 01:35 GMT, pending earnings announcements this week from giants Tencent and Alibaba. The markets were also left wanting after China’s announcement at the end of last week that it would raise the ceiling on local government debt by 780 billion euros to support its economic activity.
“Friday’s announcement lacked additional stimulus measures to support China’s sluggish consumption and struggling property market.”said Charu Chanana, currency strategist at Saxo Capital Markets. “Some believe this conservative approach could indicate that Beijing is saving its resources in anticipation of potential anti-Chinese measures under the incoming Trump administration.”
The Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.12% to 3,465.96 points, while the Shenzhen Composite Index gained 0.36% to 2,141.35 points.
Tokyo back on the rise
The Tokyo Stock Exchange was buoyant in the wake of new record highs set on Wall Street the previous day and the re-election of Japan’s prime minister. At around 01:40 GMT, the leading Nikkei index was up 0.6% at 39,771.09 points, while the broader Topix index was up 0.88% at 2,763.81 points.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba retained his post on Monday following a vote in parliament, but will have to make do with a fragile hold on power after his party lost its absolute majority in the lower house following the legislative elections at the end of October. The vote nevertheless “dispelled short-term uncertainties, which could encourage risk-taking” on Japanese markets, commented analysts at Monex Securities.
On Monday evening, Ishiba pledged more than 61 billion euros (10,000 billion yen) in aid to the artificial intelligence and semiconductor sectors between now and 2030.
Semiconductors slump
On the stock exchange, however, chip-related stocks suffered in the wake of a fall in the share price of industry giant TSMC in New York, after several media outlets claimed that the US government had ordered it to halt deliveries of its most advanced chips to the Chinese market.
The big Japanese names in the sector widened their losses in Tokyo, like Advantest (-2.07%) and Tokyo Electron (-1.71%).
On the foreign exchange market, the dollar gained 0.1% against the Japanese currency, at 153.90 yen to the dollar. It was stable against the common European currency, at 1.0654 dollars to the euro.
After falling the previous day, weighed down by Chinese stimulus measures deemed disappointing, oil prices recovered in Asia on Tuesday morning. At around 01:40 GMT, Brent North Sea crude was up 0.15% to $71.94 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was up 0.19% to $68.17 a barrel.