Bitcoin tops $100,000, stocks party at record highs

Bitcoin broke $100,000 on Thursday as investors bet on a friendly U.S. regulatory shift, while world stocks touched fresh record highs with sentiment bolstered by upbeat comments on the economy from Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell.

France's government lost a confidence vote late on Wednesday for the first time since 1962, with the far-right and leftist lawmakers joining forces to topple Michel Barnier's government, but the move had been widely anticipated by investors, so the euro, French stocks and bonds were largely steady on Thursday.

U.S. stock futures, were a touch lower, suggesting a little bit of softness at the open, a day after all three major U.S. stock indexes scored record closing highs, helped by the comments from Fed Chair Powell.

Powell said the economy was stronger than it had appeared in September when the central bank began cutting interest rates, allowing policymakers to potentially be a little more cautious in reducing rates further.

Francois Savary, chief Investment Officer at Genvil Wealth Management, said a fall in U.S. Treasury yields in recent weeks, relatively robust U.S. data and Powell's latest comments were supporting sentiment in equity markets.

"But there is a risk to the euphoria," he added.

"Everything is going the right way, right now, but wait for January, (U.S. President-elect Donald) Trump will take power and have to implement economic plans and people will realise that this could have some potential inflationary impact."


Reuters