London December 5 2024: Bitcoin broke above $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. The move had been widely anticipated by investors, so the euro, French stocks and bonds were largely steady on Thursday. Barnier officially resigned on Thursday.
U.S. stocks ticked down in morning trading, a day after all three major U.S. stock indexes scored record closing highs, helped by the comments from Fed Chair Powell.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) fell 0.21% to 44,920, the S&P 500 (.SPX) dropped 0.10% to 6,080.18 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) lost 0.13% to 19,709.
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.
