ASX set to slide as Wall Street retreats; bitcoin falls below $US100,000

The huge rally for US stocks lost momentum as Wall Street counted down to a big jobs report that’s coming on Friday. The crypto market had more action, and bitcoin briefly burst to a record above $US103,000 ($160,000) before pulling back.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.2 per cent from the all-time high it had set the day before, its 56th of the year so far, to shave a bit off what’s set to be one of its best years of the millennium. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 248 points, or 0.6 per cent, while the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.2 per cent from its own record set the day before.

The Australian sharemarket is set to edge higher, with futures at 5.04am AEDT pointing to a rise of 1 point at the open. The ASX added 0.2 per cent on Thursday.

Bitcoin powered above $US100,000 for the first time the night before, after President-elect Donald Trump chose Paul Atkins, who’s seen as a crypto advocate, as his nominee to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. It was fetching $US99,325 at 8.29am AEDT.

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Sharp swings for bitcoin are nothing new, and they took stocks of companies enmeshed in the crypto world on a similar ride. After rising as much as 9 per cent in early trading, MicroStrategy, a company that’s been raising cash just to buy bitcoin, swung to a loss of 4.8 per cent. Crypto exchange Coinbase Global fell 3.1 per cent after likewise erasing a big early gain.

Elsewhere on Wall Street, stocks of airlines helped lead the way following the latest bumps up to financial forecasts from carriers.

American Airlines Group soared 16.8 per cent after saying it’s making more in revenue during the last three months of 2024 than it expected, and it will likely make a bigger profit than it had earlier forecast. The airline also chose Citi to be its exclusive partner for credit cards that give miles in its loyalty program. That should help its cash coming in from co-branded credit card and other partners grow by about 10 per cent annually.

Southwest Airlines climbed 2 per cent after saying it’s seeing stronger demand from leisure travelers than it expected. It also raised its forecast for revenue for the holiday traveling season.