The governor of Texas ordered state agencies to stop investing in China and sell assets there as soon as possible, citing financial and security risks, a sign of rising U.S.-China tensions starting to impact global capital flows.
Regional currencies have lost ground over the last few weeks, pressured by the strength in the dollar, as caution over a slower pace of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve weighed on sentiment. Traders were also on edge over just what U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s policies will entail for Asian countries, especially China.
Both contracts jumped 2% on Thursday and are set to cap gains of more than 4% this week, the strongest such performance since late September, as Moscow stepped up its Ukraine offensive after Britain and the United States allowed Kyiv to strike Russia with their weapons.
Trump was the crypto’s biggest boost this year, given that he had vowed to introduce crypto-friendly regulation in his administration. Trump had promised to make America the “crypto capital of the planet” during his campaign, and had also floated the idea of a Bitcoin national reserve.
Crude oil for January delivery was up 0.63% or 0.44 to $70.54 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in January rose 0.61% or 0.45 to hit $74.68 a barrel, while the December Gold Futures contract rose 0.98% or 26.15 to trade at $2,701.05 a troy ounce.
