Bitcoin rose to over $14,000 on Wednesday afternoon, less than 24 hours after crossing the $12,000 mark. The digital currency was trading at $14,382.33 as of 1:52 p.m. HK/SIN, as reported by Coinbase. The price increase came after bitcoin hit key psychological levels and has shown a spectacular reversal after bitcoin declined 20 percent last week to below the $10,000 mark. Cboe Global Markets, a Chicago-based firm, will be launching bitcoin futures on Sunday, a move that is both highly anticipate by traders, and largely expected to send bitcoin and other digital currencies even higher.
In contrast to bitcoin’s dramatic gains, global stock markets have been cooling down considerably into the end of the year after rallying notably in recent weeks. Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 closed lower on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq logging modest gains. On Thursday afternoon the ASX 200 was 0.54 percent higher while the Shanghai Composite and South Korea’s Kospi were both lower. Weighing on stocks were political issues such as the U.S. tax reform, the possibility of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike next month and the prospect of continued hikes throughout 2018.
The dollar was slightly higher on Thursday afternoon, mostly unchanged against the euro but gaining 0.20 percent against the yen to trade at 112.51. The dollar also made modest gains against the Canadian dollar and the sterling which has been facing its own troubles as rumors swirl that a Brexit deal may not be reached before next week’s EU summit. The dollar was trading at $1.3365, a 0.20 percent decline.