Bitcoin came close to $98,000 on Thursday, a new record, while, on the Asian stock exchanges, tech stocks were weighed down by forecasts deemed disappointing by American chip champion Nvidia, and Indian Adani plunged after the indictment of its leader.
Bitcoin still inflamed by the “Trump effect”
Still driven by the “Trump effect”, the largest cryptocurrency by capitalization once again soared to new heights during Asian trading, exceeding the $95,000 mark for the first time and reaching $97,892 around 05:30 GMT, up around 10% over the session.
Since Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election on November 5, the value of bitcoin has increased by more than 40%. The new elected official will take office in January.
“Bitcoin is on its way to a phenomenal valuation of $100,000, driven by growing confidence that the Trump administration will usher in a crypto-friendly era, and speculators are rallying behind this narrative, fueling the market frenzy.” observed SPI Asset Management analyst Stephen Innes.
Among the expected measures, that of a strategic reserve of bitcoins in the United States, which could push other countries to grant more legitimacy to this virtual currency.
Donald Trump also promised to drastically ease regulations on the digital currency sector.
Adani conglomerate collapses in Mumbai
The conglomerate of Indian energy magnate Gautam Adani drank on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Thursday, after the businessman was indicted in the United States for corruption.
The price of the holding company Adani Enterprises plunged 10% at the opening of trading, before losing almost 20% around 06:15 GMT. Its subsidiary Adany Energy Solutions, directly targeted by American justice, collapsed by 20%.
Tokyo in decline, cooled by Nvidia
On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the flagship Nikkei index closed down 0.85% to 38,026.17 points, and the broader Topix index lost 0.57% to 2,682.81 points.
The market was penalized by the publication of the results of the American Nvidia, which took place after the close of Wall Street.
The chip giant, considered the standard-bearer of the generative artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, has again largely exceeded average quarterly profit expectations.
“However, sales forecasts for the fourth quarter did not reach the upper limit of the analysts’ forecast range, which caused the group’s shares to fall in (American) post-market trading” and cooled the entire tech sector in Asia, underlined Keita Yamaguchi, of broker Monex Securities.
Heavyweights on the Japanese stock market, the groups linked to semiconductors stumbled together: Tokyo Electron (-0.41%), Renesas (-0.66%) and Advantest (-1.63%). In Taipei, the most sophisticated chip behemoth TSMC dropped 1.46%.
The yen regains color
On the foreign exchange market, the yen is trying to recover against the dollar in Asian trade. The Japanese currency was trading at 154.66 yen per dollar around 06:15 GMT, compared to around 155.50 yen the previous evening.
The yen has fallen in recent weeks against a dollar strengthened by the prospect of inflationary policies by the future administration of Donald Trump, which will push for increased debt and rates maintained at a high level – more attractive for an investor.
Currency traders watched Thursday for statements from the governor of the Bank of Japan (BoJ), Kazuo Ueda, who remained evasive on a rate hike in December without contradicting this scenario – reinforcing the market’s expectation of this increase.
The official’s comments immediately caused a sudden rise in the yen, which would benefit from an increase in rates that still remained extremely low.
Chinese markets fall, slight oil gains
In sparse trading, the Chinese markets are oscillating around the balance, in a market torn between the persistent gloom of the economic situation of the second largest economy in the world, the risk of increased trade tensions and the expectation of an impact of the measures of relaunch announced by Beijing.
Around 06:15 GMT, the Hong Kong Hang Seng index fell 0.38% to 19,630.83 points. The Shanghai composite index lost 0.34% to 3,356.67 points and that of Shenzhen 0.43%.
Oil prices advanced at the same time: the price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea gained 0.26% to $73.00, and that of American West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained 0.31% to $68.96.
AFP
