Chris Weston News

By Ankur Banerjee

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Bitcoin stormed above $45,000 on Tuesday for the first time since April 2022 as the world's biggest cryptocurrency started the New Year with a bang buoyed by optimism around possible approval of exchange-traded spot bitcoin funds. Bitcoin touched a 21-month peak of $45,532, having gained 156% last year in its strongest yearly performance since 2020. It was last up 2.5% at $45,318 but remains far off the record high of $69,000 it touched in November 2021. Ether, the coin linked to the ethereum blockchain network, was 1.45% higher at $2,386 on Tuesday, having surged 91% in 2023. Investor focus has squarely been on whether the U.S. securities regulator will soon approve a spot bitcoin ETF, which would throw open the bitcoin market to millions more investors and draw billions in investments.

Asian stocks inched lower on Wednesday ahead of a keenly-awaited policy decision from the Federal Reserve later in the day, while the yen was stuck near one-year lows against the dollar, keeping markets on edge for possible intervention by Tokyo. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.13% lower, starting November in a sombre mood after clocking three straight months of losses.

yen hovered near a two-week high on Tuesday, boosted by a report that the Bank of Japan (BOJ) could further tweak a key bond yield policy tool when it announces its monetary decision later in the day. The dollar looked set to end the month largely unchanged against a basket of currencies, having lost some steam after a roughly 2.5% gain in September. Yet, the greenback is being underpinned by risks of another rate hike from the Federal Reserve, analysts say, noting a still-resilient U.S.

Hamas. Israel's shekel sank to a nearly eight-year low, after the country's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, vowed to «demolish Hamas» in retaliation for the rampage on Oct. 7 that killed 1,300 people in the worst attack on civilians in Israel's history. U.S.

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By Tom Westbrook

yen steadied near a one-week high on Tuesday as comments from Japan's top central banker on a possible end to its negative interest rate policy reverberated through markets, while the dollar regained some lost ground. Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda told a newspaper interview over the weekend the bank could get enough data by year-end to determine whether it can end negative rates, remarks that on Monday saw the yen clock its largest daily gain against the dollar in two months. The Japanese currency was last marginally lower at 146.61 per dollar, after scaling a one-week top of 145.91 in the previous session. «Essentially, Governor Ueda laid out a conditional path and timeframe for the first-rate hike and a move away from its negative interest rate policy, should the data permit,» said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone. «One can assume that the BOJ are also one step closer to moving away from yield curve control (YCC), and logically one could argue that the BOJ would like to be able to lift rates and remove YCC concurrently.» The yen has come under immense pressure against the dollar as a result of growing interest rate differentials with the United States, since the Federal Reserve began its aggressive rate-hike cycle last year while the BOJ remains a dovish outlier. Elsewhere, the U.S.

traders waiting on U.S. inflation data to signal that interest rates may have peaked. The yen notched its best day against the dollar in two months overnight, after Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said policymakers might have enough economic information by year's end to determine that short-term rates will need to rise. The yuan had its best day in six months after authorities vowed to correct one-way moves and Reuters reported the central bank had stepped up scrutiny of dollar buying. Both, however, remain near their weakest levels of the year and with the yuan at 7.3022 per dollar in offshore trade and the yen last a little off Monday highs at 146.68 per dollar. Japanese government bonds remained under pressure on Tuesday, with 10-year JGB yields up 1 basis point to a fresh high of 0.71%. «The result of Ueda's comments was an intense move higher in Japanese swaps and government bond yields,» said Chris Weston, head of research at brokerage Pepperstone in Melbourne. "(It) is certainly constructive for yen longs.

By Joice Alves and Ankur Banerjee

dollar eased from a 12-week peak on Monday as traders weighed the U.S. monetary path after the Fed Chair Jerome Powell left open the possibility of further interest rate increases, while the yen hovered close to its lowest in over nine months. In an eagerly awaited speech at the annual Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium, Federal Reserve Chair Powell promised to move with care at upcoming meetings as he noted both progress made on easing price pressures as well as risks from the surprising strength of the U.S.

By Rae Wee

dollar took respite on Monday after suffering its worst weekly drop of the year, as traders waited on economic data and policy decisions before selling it down any further. Chinese growth data and loan-rate settings are due later in the session, ahead of U.S. retail sales and British inflation later in the week and a slew of central bank meetings next week.

dollar was on the back foot on Monday after a miss in U.S. jobs data scaled back market expectations on how much further the Federal Reserve would need to raise rates, while focus in the Asia day was on China's inflation data release. The U.S.

Annual inflation in the US hit 9.1% in June, or more than what analysts had expected, and up from 8.6% in May. It reached the highest level in over 40 years. (This is a developing story and is being constantly updated).

bitcoin be a safe-haven asset? And can Russia emerge as a crypto superpower? The answer to the first, for now at least, is no; while fortress gold has risen 2.3% over the past week, as Western warnings about Russian aggression have intensified, bitcoin has lost 3%. That was worse than the 0.9% decline of the Nasdaq Composite index. «I don't see any evidence of bitcoin being a safe haven,» said Chris Weston, head of research at Melbourne-based brokerage Pepperstone. «The Ukraine situation with Russia is a really hard one to price, so in that situation, you just buy crude futures.»

Bitcoin has slipped towards levels of around $42,000 in recent days.