Stock market today: Bitcoin hits $100,000 and Asian stocks are mostly higher
TOKYO– TOKYO (AP) — Bitcoin surpassed $100,000 for the first time, while Asian stocks were mostly higher Thursday, riding another record Wall Street rally.
US futures fell slightly while oil prices rose.
Bitcoin inched closer to $100,000 and surged Wednesday night US time after President-elect Donald Trump chose crypto advocate Paul Atkins as his nominee to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. The cryptocurrency has climbed dramatically from $69,374 on Nov. 5, Election Day. As of 11 p.m. ET, it was up 4.7% at $103,308.27.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.6% to 2,449.74, extending its 1.4% decline the day before as President Yoon Suk Yeol faced possible indictment after he suddenly declared martial law Tuesday evening. He revoked the declaration of martial law six hours later.
Yoon accepted the resignation of his defense minister on Thursday as opposition parties moved to dismiss them both. The main opposition Democratic Party and other small opposition parties submitted a joint motion impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol Wednesday over his declaration of martial law.
Elsewhere in Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.3% to 39,406.04, while Australia’s S&The P/ASX 200 gained 0.2% to 8,474.90. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 1.0% to 19,541.09. The Shanghai Composite gained 0.3% to 3,374.91.
Taiwan’s Taiex gained almost 0.1%, while India’s Sensex fell 0.1%.
“As the dust settles and a fragile calm returns to Korean markets, Asia is preparing for a rebound Thursday. The mood is further bolstered by a new wave of records on Wall Street,” Stephen Innes, managing partner of SPI Asset Management, said in a commentary.
On Wednesday, stocks benefited from upbeat speeches from technology companies on the artificial intelligence boom.
THE&The P 500 climbed 0.6% to 6,086.49, adding to what is shaping up to be one of its best years of the millennium. It was the 56th time the index hit an all-time high this year after climbing 11 of the last 12 days.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7% to 45,014.04, while the Nasdaq composite added 1.3% to its own record, closing at 19,735.12.
Salesforce jumped 11%, helping to pull the market higher after generating revenue for the latest quarter that was higher than analysts expected, although its profit fell just short.
CEO Mark Benioff highlighted the company’s AI offering for customers, saying “the rise of autonomous AI agents is revolutionizing global work, reshaping the way industries operate and evolve.”
All the optimistic speeches helped Nvidiathe company whose chips are driving much of the shift to AI, rebounds 3.5%. It was the strongest force pushing upward on the S&P500 by far.
Retailers overall I offered mixed signals on the resilience of American buyers. Their spending was one of the main reasons why The US economy has avoided recession than earlier seemed inevitable after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates to crush inflation. But buyers are now faced with still high prices and a slowing job market.
The highlight of this week for Wall Street will be the jobs report released Friday by the U.S. government, which will show how many people were hired and fired by employers last month.
The Fed is expected to cut its main interest rate again when it meets in two weeks. The Fed has started relax its main interest rate from a two-decade high in September, in hopes of providing more support to the labor market.
The central bank appeared ready to continue lowering rates next year, but the election of Donald Trump has somewhat muddled Wall Street’s expectations. Trump’s preference for higher rates And other policies could lead to an increase inflationwhich could modify the The Fed’s plans.
Chairman of the Fed Jerome Powell said Wednesday that the central bank can afford to cut rates cautiously because inflation has slowed from its peak two years ago and the economy remains strong.
On the bond market, the yield on 10-year Treasury bills fell to 4.18% from 4.23% Tuesday evening.
In other trading Thursday morning, benchmark U.S. crude gained 1 cent to $68.55 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, was unchanged at $72.31 a barrel.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar fell to 149.90 Japanese yen from 150.62 yen. The euro costs $1.0531, up from $1.0510.
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AP Business Editor Stan Choe contributed.
