HONG KONG (AFP) – Bitcoin was close to USD73,000 in early Asian trade yesterday, approaching a record high with investors keeping a cautious eye on the United States (US) presidential election.
The leading digital currency was trading around USD72,400 at 0700GMT, after climbing as high as USD73,563.63 in late US trade, just shy of its all-time peak of USD73,797.98 in March.
The surge in the price of bitcoin is seen as a bet on a Republican victory, as Donald Trump has emerged as the pro-crypto candidate.
The price of bitcoin closely follows Trump’s standing in the polls because a Republican victory would lead to an increase in demand for the digital currency, said AJ Bell Analyst Russ Mould.
During his presidency Trump referred to cryptocurrencies as a scam, but has since radically changed his position, presenting himself as a “pro-bitcoin president” if elected and even launching his own crypto platform.
With the uncertainty surrounding the very tight US election, safe-haven gold also reached a record high of USD2,787.07 yesterday.
Oil prices rebounded slightly after falling sharply earlier in the week as fears of an escalation in the Middle East eased.
“The broader performance in oil prices seems slightly discordant with what is happening across the globe,” said Capital.com Senior Market Analyst Daniela Sabin Hathorn.
“It seems as if oil prices are ignoring improving economic data in the US and stimulus efforts from China.”
Asian stocks fell following a mixed lead from Wall Street with markets in a risk-off wait-and-see mode ahead of the US election and the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) rate decision next week.
Tokyo was virtually the sole advancer, closing 1.0 per cent higher as the Nikkei continued its run-up on the yen’s weakness and tech gains. Manila was the only other market in the green.
Hong Kong led the decliners, down 1.6 per cent in afternoon trade while Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur also retreated. Bangkok was flat.
“Asian markets are mostly down Wednesday, with investors on edge and wary of making big moves in local markets as the US presidential election looms large with pre-election de-risking taking hold,” said SPI Asset Management Analyst Stephen Innes.
Investors are hoping a key political meeting in Beijing next week will roll out a major stimulus plan for the Chinese economy. Markets are also awaiting a raft of key US economic data for more clues about the health of the world’s largest economy and the direction of the Fed’s interest rate policy.
Third-quarter GDP growth estimates will be released with inflation data and the closely watched monthly labour market report out today and Friday.
Data released on Tuesday showed US job openings fell to the lowest level since 2021 and below market expectations, indicating the labour market could be cooling. Yields on 10-year US Treasuries have edged up to above 4.3 per cent this week, the highest since early July, suggesting that some market participants are increasingly counting on more limited rate cuts from the Fed at its November 7 meeting.
