Stock market today: Asian shares gain and bitcoin hits a record high ahead of U.S. inauguration

[January 20, 2025]  By ELAINE KURTENBACH

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares advanced early Monday and bitcoin surged to a record high ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.

U.S. markets will be closed Monday for a holiday.

The price of bitcoin surged as high as $109,134 early Monday, up from $99,563, according to CoinDesk. Cryptocurrencies have gained substantially since Trump was elected, as investors wagered on his favor for such assets.

European benchmarks gained in early trading, with Britain's FTSE 100 edging 0.1% higher to 8,515.80, while the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.2% at 7,729.06. Germany's DAX was nearly unchanged at 20,902.00.

The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.1%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 1.8% to 19,925.81 after China’s central bank kept its key lending rates unchanged. The Shanghai Composite index edged 0.1% higher to 3,244.38.

A Hong Kong court extended a deadline for troubled property developer Country Garden to reach an agreement with its creditors until next month in the latest slow step toward recovery from a prolonged downturn in China's real estate sector.

Sentiment also was helped by upbeat comments by U.S. and Chinese officials ahead of Trump's inauguration later Monday. Pledges by both sides to work to improve relations may have alleviated some concerns over trade tensions that have built up as businesses brace for a possible increase in tariffs on Chinese exports to the U.S.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index climbed 1.2% to 38,902.50. The dollar slipped against the Japanese yen, trading at 156.17 yen, down from 156.31 yen. Expectations are building that Japan's central bank might raise its key interest rate in a monetary policy meeting later this week. Higher rates tend to boost the value of the yen versus the dollar.

The euro rose to $1.0309 from $1.0281.

In South Korea, the Kospi slipped 0.1% to 2,520.05. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5% to 8,347.40.

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Taiwan's Taiex picked up 0.5% and India's Sensex surged 0.7%. Bangkok's SET gained 0.1%.

In other dealings early Monday, U.S. benchmark crude oil shed 19 cents to $77.20 per barrel and Brent crude, the international standard, gave up 23 cents to $80.56 per barrel.

On Friday, the S&P 500 climbed 1% and the Dow rose 0.8%. The Nasdaq composite rallied 1.5%.

SLB helped lead the market after the provider oilfield services delivered bigger profit and revenues for the end of 2024 than analysts expected. It jumped 6.1% after it also raised its dividend by 3.6% and said it’s returning $2.3 billion to its investors by buying back its own stock.

All the Big Tech companies in what’s come to be known as the “ Magnificent Seven ” rose: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla. Because they’re so massive in size, their movements carry more weight on the S&P 500 and other indexes than other stocks.

Such shares have been under pressure recently because of criticism their prices may have shot too high after leading the market for so many years. Such worries grew after Treasury yields jumped in the bond market. Higher yields hurt prices for all kinds of investments, particularly those seen as the most expensive.

But stocks broadly got a lift this week from an encouraging report on U.S. inflation, which raised hopes that the Federal Reserve may deliver more cuts to interest rates this year. More such cuts, which began in September, would ease the brakes off the economy and boost prices for investments, though they can also give inflation more fuel.

Wall Street has been lurching down and up in recent weeks as economic reports pushed traders to revamp their expectations about what the Fed will do with rates. Lower worries about inflation have sent Treasury yields down and stocks up, while worsening worries about inflation have triggered the opposite reaction.

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