Market News

Virtual currency bitcoin soared to an all-time high above $10,000 on Wednesday on major exchanges and digital currency indexes, including the widely followed Luxembourg-based trading platform BitStamp.

Asian session forex traders didn’t have a lot of news reports to work with, so they mostly focused on extending the previous session’s themes.

Asian shares rose and the dollar held firm on Wednesday after Wall Street shot to record peaks amid signs of progress on U.S. tax cuts, upbeat economic data and bank-friendly comments from the would-be head of the Federal Reserve.

Oil prices eased on Tuesday, weighed down by uncertainty over the outcome of an OPEC meeting this week at which an extension to its price-supporting oil output cuts will be discussed.

Virtual currency bitcoin soared to an all-time high above $10,000 on Tuesday on some smaller exchanges and digital currency indexes, but remained just below that milestone in major trading platforms such as Luxembourg-based BitStamp.

The U.S. dollar reasserted its dominance against most of its major counterparts as tax reform came back in the spotlight. However, the currency stalled from its climb when North Korea conducted another missile test.

U.S consumer confidence surged to a near 17-year high in November, driven by a robust labor market, while house prices rose sharply in September, which should underpin consumer spending and boost economic growth.

The dollar rose against a basket of currencies on Tuesday, rebounding from a two-month low hit the previous day, as risk sentiment improved and the confirmation hearing of new Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell kicked off.

The vulnerabilities created by Canada’s high household debt and hot housing market remain elevated but should ease over time amid improving economic conditions and tighter mortgage rules, the Bank of Canada said on Tuesday.

The U.S. Federal Reserve should “respond decisively” to any new economic crisis, Fed chair nominee Jerome Powell told the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday, positioning himself as an heir to the central bank policies of current chair Janet Yellen and her predecessor Ben Bernanke.

OPEC is heading for tougher-than-expected policy talks this week as its leader Saudi Arabia pushes to extend oil output cuts by nine months while non-member Russia is hesitating on the curbs’ duration due to worries that the market could overheat.

The dollar was stuck near a two-month low on Tuesday as traders waited for the confirmation hearing of new Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, while the pound slipped from a two-month high as Brexit-related doubts began to re-exert their grip.

Choppy session today, but a few themes were clearly playing out, namely GBP weakness because of renewed Brexit-related jitters, AUD strength due to the risk-on vibes, and (strangely enough) CHF resilience.

Britain’s banks all avoided bills for more capital in annual stress tests for the first time since 2014, but the Bank of England warned of pain ahead if there is no Brexit deal and said the country’s current account deficit posed a big risk.

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Oil prices slipped in Asian trade on Tuesday amid uncertainty over a possible extension of output cuts by major crude producers and expectations of higher supply as the Keystone pipeline restarts.

Shanghai nickel futures tumbled more than 4 percent on Tuesday to their lowest since mid-October as reforms in China threaten steel-intensive infrastructure projects.

A pretty quiet day for the major currencies, as a lack of economic reports inspired tight ranges and focused investors’ attention on central bankers’ speeches.

Net bearish bias on USD finally increased after falling for seven consecutive weeks. And the latest COT report shows USD lost ground to EUR, JPY, and GBP because GBP bulls charged in while JPY and EUR bears fled.

The Keystone crude oil pipeline will restart at reduced pressure on Tuesday, TransCanada Corp said, nearly two weeks after closing the line after it leaked 5,000 barrels of crude in rural South Dakota.