Asian stocks eased while the dollar held at four-month highs on Tuesday, though all the excitement was centered on bitcoin as it soared to a record peak underpinned by investor bets on assets that are likely to benefit from Donald Trumps election win.
Investors anticipate Trumps second four-year term in office will bring equities-boosting tax cuts and looser regulations, lifting the worlds biggest and best-known cryptocurrency, bitcoin, to an all-time high of 89,637.
But the threat of possible tariffs from the new White House administration has put the euro under pressure, with the single currency touching near seven-month lows of 1.0687 overnight. It was last at 1.0658 in Asian hours on Tuesday.
The dollar on the other hand is expected to benefit from some of the policies that will likely keep US interest rates relatively higher for longer. The dollar index, which measures the greenback versus six peers, was at 105.57, just shy of the 4-month high hit on Monday.
Vasu Menon, managing director of investment strategy at OCBC, said the decisive win by Trump and the Republican party removes the overhang of an unclear or a contested US election outcome.
