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Gold slipped Thursday after climbing above $4,500, while cryptocurrencies surged, with bitcoin posting its best day since February.
Spot gold slipped 0.8% to $4,487 per ounce by 7:20 a.m. GMT, as investors booked profits after prices climbed to a more‑than‑two‑month peak following a more than 4% advance on Wednesday.
That rally came after a surprise U.S. Treasury liquidity‑support announcement for long‑duration bonds, which weakened the dollar and pushed Treasury yields down from their 2007 highs.
Bitcoin surged over 8% to $69,870 in the last 24 hours after U.S. President Donald Trump urged Congress to pass a bill expected to boost the sector, triggering a massive liquidation among short positions of over $2.7 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Stocks kicked off the session higher in Asia, with Japan's Nikkei 225 and South Korea's Kospi jumping by 1.4% and 5.9%, respectively. China's Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng also climbed, adding 0.2% and 1%, respectively.
After the open, the Stoxx Europe 600 benchmark remained flat, France's CAC 40 held steady, Germany's DAX 30 edged up 0.2%, the UK's FTSE 100 stayed unchanged, and Spain's IBEX 35 lost 0.1%.
Silver gave back 0.6% to $66.7 per ounce, while platinum and palladium also retreated by over 1% to $1,790 and $1,320 per ounce, respectively.
Cryptocurrencies rallied across the board, with ethereum soaring as much as 17% to $2,250, while the total market cap of all cryptocurrencies surged around 7.9% to $2.4 trillion.
Oil prices, meanwhile, climbed over 1.5% with Brent topping $93 per barrel amid prolonged shipping traffic disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital energy corridor, against the backdrop of U.S.-Iran tensions.
The U.S. Treasury Department said Wednesday it would at least double its buyback operations for longer-dated notes and bonds, from $2 billion to $4 billion per operation, after a major selloff sent yields soaring on inflation fears tied to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
The 30-year yield, which hit a 19-year high of 5.34% earlier that day, eased back to 5.18% after the announcement. Total U.S. debt outstanding, meanwhile, crossed $40 trillion for the first time, stoking fresh fiscal crisis warnings.
Minutes released later in the day showed Federal Reserve officials indicated at their last meeting that they are leaning toward raising rates unless inflation shows further signs of cooling, raising the prospect of tighter monetary policy ahead.
Separately, U.S. President Donald Trump rolled out a sweeping economic campaign against Iran on Wednesday, threatening sanctions on any country whose financial institutions, businesses, or government entities keep backing Tehran.
"We need all of our Allies to stand with the United States of America to isolate, and defeat, the Iran threat," Trump said on Truth Social, branding the effort "Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale" and calling it "an ECONOMIC D-DAY."
He described it as the most severe economic operation ever aimed at a single nation and urged U.S. allies to join in.
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