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Rate cut bets enhance stocks as bitcoin breaks $100,000.

Bitcoin broke $100,000 on Thursday as investors bet on a friendly regulatory shift in the U.S., while Asian stocks were firm after Wall Street indexes notched record highs on growing self-confidence in U.S. rates of interest cuts.

Bitcoin

hit the $100,000 mark in the Asia early morning and was last at $101,300.

At the end of the day, it's simply a number, said Geoff Kendrick, worldwide head of digital properties research at Standard Chartered.

But the reality is we have actually been able to get to this level because the market has ended up being institutionalised this year especially - which's mainly the ETF inflows, he stated, describing exchange traded funds approved previously this year.

The S&P 500, Nasdaq and Dow had all notched record highs over night. Over the past week and a half markets have all but priced in an extra U.S. rate cut for 2025 and the indicated chance of a cut in December has actually raised from even to around 75%.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat in morning trade as selling in Hong Kong offset gains in Australia and Japan. Japan's Nikkei increased about 0.6% to strike a three-week high.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell around 1%.

The carefully seen U.S. ISM survey showed services sector activity slowed in November after publishing huge gains in current months. Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields fell three basis points to 4.182%. They were steady in Asia trade.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell made well balanced comments at a New york city Times event on Wednesday, explaining the economy as in great shape however not truly pressing back on market pricing for rate cuts.

Earlier today Fed Governor Christopher Waller had said he was leaning towards a cut later in December. European retail sales figures and German factory orders are due later in the day, though the week's focus is on U.S. work information on Friday where a strong reading might reverse bond-market relocations.

Normally data in the U.S. has actually continued to be pretty resistant, said RBC Capital Markets' primary economic expert in Sydney, Su-Lin Ong, keeping in mind procedures such as the Atlanta Fed's GDPNow price quote are for strong development at 3.2% in the fourth quarter.

We believe the marketplace has got too much priced in.

S&P 500 futures slipped a tad while European futures fell 0.3%. German stocks are up 4% in a week and at record-high levels.

DOLLAR TICKS LOWER

The dollar tracked U.S. yields lower in the forex market, although not by much. The euro was pinned at $ 1.0520 by political chaos in France, where the federal government lost a confidence elect the first time considering that 1962.

The yen has backtracked some current gains and expectations for a rate trek in December have unwound following press reports indicating policymakers' most likely caution.

It was a little firmer at 150.31 per dollar on Thursday. The Australian dollar, at $0.6420, was nursing what was its heaviest fall in a month on Wednesday following weaker-than-expected development information.

Monetary markets in South Korea were broadly constant after President Yoon Suk Yeol's stopped working effort to enforce martial law late on Tuesday activated volatility and a political crisis.

In product trade sticking around expectations of Chinese stimulus supported iron ore rates, while oil inched higher ahead of an OPEC+ conference later in the day.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies in OPEC+ are likely to extend their most current round of oil production cuts sources told Reuters.

Brent unrefined futures rose 0.2% to $72.42 a barrel. Gold prices steadied at $2,649 an ounce.

(source: Reuters)