Bitcoin shot past $100,000 for the first time on Thursday, taking the limelight away from stock markets that wavered as investors tracked political crises in France and South Korea.
Oil prices fell modestly despite a move by the OPEC cartel and its allies to extend their supply cuts amid concerns about oversupply.
Wall Street’s main stock indexes retreated from records, while Paris and Frankfurt forged higher despite political uncertainty in Paris.
Bitcoin reached a high of $103,800.45 before dipping below the symbolically important level to $99.154 near 2200 GMT.
The digital asset has now soared more than 50 percent since the election of Donald Trump, who has vowed to make the United States the “bitcoin and cryptocurrency capital of the world”.
“Bitcoin smashed through $100,000 as the Trump Trade powered on with force,” noted Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell.
The historic level was broken after Trump picked crypto proponent Paul Atkins to take over as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the markets regulator.
Atkins is founder of risk consultancy firm Patomak Global Partners, whose clients include companies in the banking, trading and cryptocurrency industries.
Atkins “is unlikely to be as anti-crypto as his predecessor Gary Gensler”, said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB trading platform.
“Thus, politics is driving bitcoin. We doubt that the rally will stop here,” she added.
Mixed markets
Stock markets struggled for direction ahead of important US jobs figures on Friday.
Aaron Clark, an equity portfolio manager at GW&K, said investors “are probably not willing to step in” ahead of Friday’s November employment data.
“We’ve seen record inflows into equities,” said Clark, who thinks the market could be poised for additional gains later in December.
Paris closed higher despite the historic no-confidence vote that ousted the government of French Prime Minister Michel Barnier.
President Emmanuel Macron vowed to name a new prime minister in the coming days to prevent France from sliding deeper into political turmoil, rejecting growing pressure from the opposition to resign
“The French political crisis failed to knock European indices off course,” said Coatsworth, an analyst at AJ Bell.
Frankfurt was also in the green but London was flat.
Most Asian stock markets finished higher but Seoul closed in the red.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol clung to power Thursday, his party announcing they will oppose an impeachment motion after his short-lived imposition of martial law stunned the world.
“The silver lining we think is that the swift reversal of the martial law underscores the resilience of South Korea’s institutions,” said analysts at BMI, a unit of Fitch Solutions.
“For now, we expect limited implications for the economy and financial markets as the Bank of Korea and the ministry of finance have responded swiftly by reassuring investors,” they added.
Key figures around 2200 GMT
New York – Dow: DOWN 0.6 percent at 44,765.71 (close)
New York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.2 percent at 6,075.11 (close)
New York – Nasdaq: DOWN 0.2 percent at 19,700.26 (close)
London – FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 8,349.38 (close)
Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.4 percent at 7,330.54 (close)
Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.6 percent at 20,358.80 (close)
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 39,395.60 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.9 percent at 19,560.44 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 3,368.86 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0591 from $1.0511 on Wednesday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2760 from $1.2701
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 150.09 yen from 150.59 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 82.97 from 82.75 pence
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.3 percent at $72.09 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.4 percent at $68.30 per barrel
burs-jmb/arp
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