Bitcoin hovered around the $90,000 mark on Thursday, breaking through for the first time overnight, while the Tokyo Stock Exchange rebounded, helped by the yen’s weakening against the dollar.
Bitcoin shines
The largest cryptocurrency by capitalization was trading at $90,184 around 02:30 GMT. It had broken through the historic $90,000 barrier at around 14:30 GMT on Wednesday, before surpassing $93,000 shortly afterwards. Since Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election on November 5, bitcoin’s value has soared by more than 30%, flying from record to record.
The president-elect, who will take office in January, has promised to make the U.S. “the cryptocurrency capital of the world” by drastically easing the regulatory environment, and spoke of establishing a strategic national bitcoin reserve. These initiatives are designed to boost demand at a time when the global supply of bitcoins is limited, and could push prices even higher.
The dollar continues to soar
The dollar continued to soar in Asian trading on Thursday, still boosted by the prospect of inflationary policies during Donald Trump’s second term – tariffs, tax cuts and budget deficit increases. These are likely to keep rates high in the US, boosting the greenback’s appeal.
At around 02:00 GMT, the US currency was climbing to 155.91 yen to the dollar – its highest level since July 24. It was appreciating against the common European currency, at 1.0554 dollars to the euro, at levels not seen for over a year. “Asian currencies expected to weaken further, especially with US customs taxes likely to be stepped up”which will affect economies in the region and could lead central banks in Asia to react by lowering rates, adds Lloyd Chan of MUFG Bank.
In addition, the yen is suffering particularly from the widening gap between Japanese bond yields and those of the United States, which are rising due to the prospect of an increase in US debt.
Cautious rebound on the Tokyo Stock Exchange
At around 02:30 GMT on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the leading Nikkei index was up 0.10% at 38,761.02 points and the broader Topix index was up 0.46% at 2,720.93 points. “Weaker yen should support export group shares”which see their sales boosted by the exchange rate, stressed analysts at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence.
Moreover, as the Japanese corporate earnings season draws to a close, “despite a notable slowdown in the automotive sector, upward revisions to earnings forecasts predominate in the overall picture.”enough to fuel “speculative buyingthey point out.
Chinese markets under pressure
At around 02:30 GMT in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was down 0.64% at 19,696.78 points. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.26% to 3,430.55 points, and the Shenzhen Composite Index 0.91% to 2,100.46 points.
Chinese markets remain clouded by the prospect of intensifying Sino-American trade tensions. After the announcement of stimulus measures deemed insufficient, “investors are now awaiting important economic indicators in China and the publication of technology group results”.including Tencent and Alibaba on Friday, noted analysts at Hang Seng Bank.
The Seoul and Taiwan stock exchanges are also under pressure, having fallen by over 2% on Wednesday, led by a plunge in technology stocks – a sector likely to suffer from a trade war. The South Korean giant Samsung Electronics was catching its breath on Thursday (+1.38%) after collapsing by some 2.5% during the previous day’s session, to its lowest level in four years.
Oil downturn
Oil prices were trading slightly lower, in a market penalized by a stronger dollar – which makes purchases of crude denominated in the US currency less attractive – while concerns about demand persist. At around 02:30 GMT, Brent North Sea crude was down 0.19% at $72.14 a barrel, while its US equivalent, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), was down 0.28% at $68.24 a barrel.