Bullion prices rose back above the $2,000 an ounce level on Thursday after breaking well below the level earlier in the week. Some safe haven demand- following data showing recessions in Japan and the UK- also aided gold prices.
JPMorgan had been quite concerned that the enthusiasm in Bitcoin over the last three months was being driven by unrealistic optimism for new money going into the cryptocurrency market through the newly approved and recently launched U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were IGO Ltd (ASX:IGO), which rose 7.84% or 0.54 points to trade at 7.43 at the close. Meanwhile, Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) added 7.51% or 0.26 points to end at 3.72 and Omni Bridgeway Ltd (ASX:OBL) was up 7.28% or 0.11 points to 1.62 in late trade.
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Asian stocks rose on Thursday, with the Nikkei breaching a new 34-year peak, while the dollar took a breather near a three-month high as markets assess when the Federal Reserve is likely to start its easing cycle after a run of strong economic data.
Regional currencies were still reeling from a hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation reading, which saw traders further scale back expectations of early interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
Bullion prices took some relief from mild losses in the dollar, which consolidated in overnight trade after racing to three-month highs earlier this week. The greenback is now likely to see more near-term gains, as traders began further scaling back expectations for early rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
Bitcoin is currently trading around $51,770, its highest level since December 2021. The rise has taken its market cap to $1 trillion. Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, is up close to 4% at the time of writing, trading at around $2,746.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Altium Ltd (ASX:ALU), which rose 28.91% or 14.82 points to trade at 66.08 at the close. Meanwhile, Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) added 10.17% or 0.03 points to end at 0.33 and Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB) was up 9.09% or 0.03 points to 0.30 in late trade.
Consumer price inflation – which was higher in Britain than in other rich economies until recently – is expected to fall further in the coming months, paving the way for the BoE to start cutting borrowing costs from their 16-year high.
The dollar fell 0.14% against the yen to 150.57, and was not too far from a three-month high hit against the Japanese currency on Tuesday. The dollar has added about 10 yen in price since the start of this year.
