U.S. markets closed

  • S&P Futures

    3,891.50
    +18.00 (+0.46%)
     

  • Dow Futures

    31,572.00
    +106.00 (+0.34%)
     

  • Nasdaq Futures

    13,321.50
    +97.25 (+0.74%)
     

  • Russell 2000 Futures

    2,263.30
    +13.20 (+0.59%)
     

  • Crude Oil

    61.69
    +0.20 (+0.33%)
     

  • Gold

    1,812.10
    +3.70 (+0.20%)
     

  • Silver

    28.26
    +0.18 (+0.62%)
     

  • EUR/USD

    1.2173
    +0.0006 (+0.05%)
     

  • 10-Yr Bond

    1.3700
    +0.0250 (+1.86%)
     

  • Vix

    23.45
    +1.40 (+6.35%)
     

  • GBP/USD

    1.4079
    +0.0015 (+0.11%)
     

  • USD/JPY

    105.0210
    -0.0320 (-0.03%)
     

  • BTC-USD

    50,386.75
    -5,901.86 (-10.49%)
     

  • CMC Crypto 200

    1,005.68
    -125.65 (-11.11%)
     

  • FTSE 100

    6,612.24
    -11.78 (-0.18%)
     

  • Nikkei 225

    30,156.03
    +138.11 (+0.46%)
     

Bitcoin falls as much as 6% as it pulls back from record high

·1 min read
FILE PHOTO: Representation of the virtual currency Bitcoin is seen on a motherboard in this picture illustration

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Cryptocurrency bitcoin dropped as much as 6% in Asia trade on Tuesday and was trading around $52,000 as it pulls back from record highs following a long and sharp rally.

Bitcoin hit a low of $50,848 in the session following a wild ride on Monday where it traded in a $10,000 range. It's up nearly 90% from the year's low of $27,734.

Ether, the coin linked to the ethereum blockchain, also dropped more than 5% and last bought $1,707, down almost 17% from last week's record peak.

(Reporting by Tom Westbrook.)

Recommended Stories

  • Why Another March Crash Is Not Likely For Bitcoin

    What Happened: Bitcoin (BTC) price has seen one of its most significant rallies since its inception in February, as the cryptocurrency rose from $33,000 to $58,000 during this month alone. However, according to historical data, that trend may be set to reverse momentarily as March approaches. March is dangerous.#Bitcoin https://t.co/50lguyeXLD pic.twitter.com/mIVsHZOvqB — Bybt (@bybt_com) February 22, 2021 Data from a cryptocurrency exchange data aggregator Bybt, shows that Bitcoin has typically crashed during the month of March. Why It Matters: The majority of industry proponents have an optimistic opinion about the price of Bitcoin, with some even revealing a price target of $100,000 at the end of the year. However, if historical data is to be believed, then investors might begin to see short-term losses on long positions they entered this month. Some analysts believe that this periodic dip in Bitcoin’s price is for tax-related reasons. Incidentally, March also happens to be the month where most crypto market crashes typically occur. The largest crash observed was undoubtedly in March 2018, when Bitcoin fell more than 32%, followed by the March crash of 2020 induced by pandemic-related panic selling. The crash in March 2020 led to over $1 billion futures contracts being liquidated, which further induced uncertainty in the market. What Else: While a crash appears unlikely at this point, some on-chain analysts do not believe that even a dip in Bitcoin’s price is likely to be seen in the coming months. A few compelling reasons to believe this include Bitcoin’s newfound institutional interest and support, along with its decreasing correlation with gold. Additionally, reserves on exchanges have dropped significantly in 2021, compared to previous years when they were flooded with Bitcoin for sale. Image: Stocksnap.io See more from BenzingaClick here for options trades from BenzingaAnthony Scaramucci Believes Bitcoin Price Will Reach 0K 'Before The End 2021'Why Golem (GLM) Cryptocurrency Surged 102% Today© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

  • Bitcoin Buzz Attracting RIOT Options Traders

    Bitcoin's big rally last week had Riot Blockchain in the spotlight

  • 2 Hot Marijuana Stocks Even Warren Buffett Might Want to Buy in 2021

    Cannabis companies seem like they're the opposite of what the famed investor Warren Buffett would like. Despite the industry's present-day schlock, there are two contenders I think could eventually fit Mr. Buffett's exacting bill. While there's no guarantee that they'll ever actually make it to the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio, you shouldn't be too surprised if they do.

  • Copper Surges Above $9,000 as Shortfall Concern Spurs Rally

    (Bloomberg) -- Copper rose above $9,000 a metric ton for the first time in nine years, taking another step closer to an all-time high set in 2011 as investors bet that supply tightness will increase as the world recovers from the pandemic.Copper is surging amid a broad rally in commodities from iron ore to nickel, while oil has gained more than 20% this year. The bellwether industrial metal has doubled since a nadir in March, boosted by rapidly tightening physical markets, prospects for rebounding economic growth and the expectation that a years-long era of low inflation in key economies may be ending.Investors are also piling into copper on a bet that demand will surge in the coming years as governments unleash unprecedented stimulus programs targeting renewable energy and electric-vehicle infrastructure, which will require huge volumes of the raw material.“The list of bullish factors for copper is extremely long,” Max Layton, head of EMEA commodities research at Citigroup Inc., said by phone from London. “A lot of the most bullish developments are really going to play out in the next few months, and therefore we think it’s going to be sooner rather than later that it gets to $10,000.”In some areas of the physical copper market, supply conditions are the tightest in years and may come under even more pressure as smelters in top consumer China face shrinking profit margins for processing raw ore into refined metal. Copper treatment charges, an indicator of refining margins, are at $45.50 a ton, the lowest since 2012. One leading supplier is considering cutting output, in a potential blow to buyers.Surging prices are a boost for miners, driving up stock prices and raising the prospect of more blockbuster returns to shareholders. Jiangxi Copper Co., China’s top producer, gained as much as 20% in Hong Kong to the highest level since 2012, while U.S. producer Freeport-McMoRan Inc. closed at the highest since 2014 on Friday.Inflation ThreatWith inflation expectations already increasing around the world, the sharp rally in commodities including copper could soon start filtering into the price of end-use goods, raising costs for governments with big infrastructure spending plans.The risk of faster inflation has prompted a selloff in bonds globally, with the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield jumping to the highest in about a year on Monday. The gap between 5-year and 30-year yields reached the widest since October 2014, moving past yet another historic level on signs of strength in the reflation trade.Wilting real returns in the bond markets could drive further inflows into copper, creating an inflation feedback loop and intensifying the clamor for hard assets as prices rise.There are already signs of emerging tightness on the London Metal Exchange, as spot contracts trade at a premium to futures. That pattern, known as backwardation, was a feature of the market during a record-breaking boom in Chinese demand last year, and suggests that spot demand is once again outpacing supply as exchange inventories run low.Copper for delivery in three months rose 2.1% to settle at $9,097 a ton at 5:51 p.m. in London after touching $9,269.50, the highest since 2011. The metal is on pace for an unprecedented 11th straight monthly gain. The current price record of $10,190 was reached in February 2011.In China, the SHFE contract hit the daily limit. Most other metals rose, with tin climbing to the highest since 2011.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • Stock market news live updates: Stock futures open higher, shaking off earlier losses

    Stocks fell Monday while commodity prices rallied, as rising Treasury yields and expectations of higher inflation weighed on equity prices.

  • Bitcoin Transfers Worth Billions Could Mean More Selling Pressure

    Blockchain data showed investors moving the cryptocurrency onto exchanges, ostensibly preparing for a quick sale.

  • Petrobras shares slump as Brazil's Bolsonaro doubles down on intervention

    Petrobras shares plunged 22% on Monday, wiping out 71 billion reais ($13 billion) in market value, as Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro again slammed its pricing policies after he replaced the state-controlled oil company's market-friendly CEO with a retired army general. The selloff, following a series of analyst downgrades, deepened after Bolsonaro said the company's fuel policy was only pleasing to financial markets and select groups in Brazil and should be changed as part of an effort to lower gasoline and diesel prices. Overall, the last few days have marked a dramatic about-face for Bolsonaro, a right-wing populist whose interventionist instincts until now had been largely contained by economically conservative allies.

  • HSBC to announce exit from U.S. retail banking, reshuffles top jobs

    HSBC is set to withdraw from U.S. retail banking, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday, as Europe's biggest bank seeks to dispose of a business that has long underperformed. The exit from the U.S. consumer business will form part of the lender's strategy update due on Tuesday, as Chief Executive Noel Quinn seeks to cut costs, boost fee income and continue the lender's shift towards Asia. The sale or closure of its around 150 remaining branches in the United States, after it shuttered 80 last year, would mark the end of HSBC's struggle to turn around a business which has struggled to make inroads against incumbent domestic rivals.

  • Texas Deep Freeze Delivers Macquarie $210 Million Windfall

    (Bloomberg) -- The Texas deep freeze that upended the U.S. energy market has delivered Macquarie Group Ltd. a windfall of as much as A$270 million ($210 million) amid wild swings in gas and electricity prices.The Sydney-based investment bank on Monday raised its profit forecast, citing increased demand for its gas and power supply services in the U.S. At the same time, Griddy Energy, a household supplier in Texas that’s backed by Macquarie Energy is handing out massive electricity bills to residents who used power when wholesale prices were spiking.Read more about soaring Texas electricity bills hereMacquarie is the second-biggest physical gas supplier in the U.S. behind BP Plc, and typically moves gas between different parts of the country based on last-minute customer needs.Last week the bank profited as its major clients -- including energy companies -- sought to buy and move higher-than-expected volumes of gas and electricity to their customers amid the crisis in Texas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The price of physical gas, which is normally less than $3 per million British thermal units, skyrocketed to as much as $1,250 in some locations last week.As the cold blast froze oil and gas wells, sent electricity prices to record highs and caused blackouts for 5 million homes and businesses, more of Macquarie’s customers ordered gas for Texas that had to be shipped from other parts of the country, the person said.Consumers are now feeling the impact of the huge price swings. Griddy customers in Texas are being handed massive utility bills some as high as $8,000. The supplier charges electricity based on real-time prices in wholesale markets, therefore passing the costs straight on to consumers. Griddy saw the problem developing and even urged its retail customers last weekend to switch to another provider. By Sunday last week, 20% managed to do so.A Giant Flaw in Texas Blackouts: It Cut Power to Gas SuppliesMacquarie’s commodities business is unusual among banks in the U.S., where counterparts such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley have had to curb commodities trading activities to satisfy regulators. But Macquarie, which expanded its commodities operations by purchasing Cargill Inc.’s power and gas trading business in the U.S. in 2017, doesn’t trade commodities with its own balance sheet, the person said.In its profit upgrade, Macquarie said the “extreme winter weather conditions in North America have significantly increased short-term client demand for Macquarie’s capabilities in maintaining critical physical supply across the commodity complex and particularly in relation to gas and power.”After two weeks ago saying earnings in the year ending March 31 will be “slightly” down on last year’s result, Macquarie on Monday forecast profit would now be up 5%-10%. That implies net income of about A$2.87 billion ($2.3 billion) to A$3 billion, compared to A$2.73 billion a year earlier.The improved outlook sent Macquarie shares to a one-year high in Sydney trading. The stock was up 3.7% to A$147.56 at 3:50 p.m. in Sydney, the highest since Feb. 21, 2020.(Adds information on electricity bills in sixth paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • Bitcoin Faces Price Turbulence as Market Liquidity Falls, Says JPMorgan

    With liquidity falling in the bitcoin market, smaller trades can have a relatively large price impact.

  • 'Retail suckers' with FOMO will eventually get crushed on Bitcoin, says Roubini

    'The reality is nobody knows what the value of this pseudo-asset is. It doesn’t have any value cause it doesn’t have any income, doesn’t have any use, doesn’t have any utility. So it’s a speculative play on a bubble that is self-fulfilling,' says Roubini.

  • Who is responsible for the world’s garment workers?

    Factory workers in Cambodia and Bangladesh are going hungry as Western clothing brands halt production, leading to tough questions about who is responsible for their plight.

  • Explainer: U.S. Treasury's cash drawdown - and why markets care

    The U.S. Treasury is due to run down a $1.6 trillion bank account at the Federal Reserve as government spending ramps up in the months ahead - a move some analysts warn may crush short-term money rates further and flood financial markets with cash. The Treasury said recently it would halve its extraordinarily large balance at the so-called Treasury General Account (TGA) by April and cut it to $500 billion by the end of June. The U.S. government runs most of its day-to-day business through the TGA - managed by the New York Fed and into which flow tax receipts and proceeds from the sale of Treasury debt.

  • 2 timeless lessons for investors from the past year

    A year ago, the S&P 500 began its sharp descent from its then record high as the coronavirus started to get seriously priced into the stock market.

  • HSBC is facing dueling loyalty tests it can only fail

    When Ted Hui arrived in the UK last December after fleeing Hong Kong, he had a rude shock: not only was his HSBC bank account frozen, but his bank balance was at zero. A key figure in Hong Kong’s democracy movement who took on a visible role as a frontline mediator during the protests in 2019, Hui had feared something like this would happen. In recent months, HSBC has found itself under intense pressure from politicians in the West who accuse the bank of facilitating China’s authoritarian crackdown on Hong Kong.

  • Daily Gold News: Monday, Feb. 22 – Gold Price Remains Close to $1,800

    Gold is 0.7% higher this morning, as it is retracing some of last week’s decline. What about the other precious metals?

  • How you can lose your $1,400 stimulus check by filing taxes early

    It's true: Getting your tax return in quickly could put your relief money at risk.

  • Brexit: 1,000 EU finance firms 'set to open UK offices'

    Applications to operate via a UK base suggest London will remain a key financial centre, a consultancy says.

  • Broker IG pulls some of its riskier products after GameStop frenzy

    In response to a story by the Financial Times, IG said it would be withdrawing less than 8% of the 12,000 leveraged equities products it offers. Leveraged products allow traders to increase their exposure to the market with a relatively small capital investment. Big bets by individual investors, particularly in the shares of U.S. retailer GameStop, have triggered massive price swings in some stocks around the world, leading some people to make hefty profits but leaving others facing large losses.

  • Ant-backed MYbank joins China's digital yuan pilot

    The online bank backed by Alibaba's fintech giant Ant Group has joined China's digital yuan pilot programme, it said on Monday, as the Beijing's expands trials aimed at eventually rolling out the electronic currency for mass use. Ant-backed MYBank said it was one of the parties participating in the research and development on China's e-currency. It plans to "advance the trial pursuant to the overall arrangement of the People's Bank of China(PBOC)," said a bank's spokesperson.