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Bitcoin Falls 5% Below $90,000 as Investors Ditch Risk Assets

An illustration photograph taken on November 22, 2025, shows a gold plated souvenir Bitcoin coin reflected in a mirror and arranged for a photograph in front of a computer screen displaying the Bitcoin monthly price chart in a residential property in Guildford, south of London. (Photo by Justin TALLIS / AFP)
An illustration photograph taken on November 22, 2025, shows a gold plated souvenir Bitcoin coin reflected in a mirror and arranged for a photograph in front of a computer screen displaying the Bitcoin monthly price chart in a residential property in Guildford, south of London. (Photo by Justin TALLIS / AFP)
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Bitcoin Falls 5% Below $90,000 as Investors Ditch Risk Assets

An illustration photograph taken on November 22, 2025, shows a gold plated souvenir Bitcoin coin reflected in a mirror and arranged for a photograph in front of a computer screen displaying the Bitcoin monthly price chart in a residential property in Guildford, south of London. (Photo by Justin TALLIS / AFP)
An illustration photograph taken on November 22, 2025, shows a gold plated souvenir Bitcoin coin reflected in a mirror and arranged for a photograph in front of a computer screen displaying the Bitcoin monthly price chart in a residential property in Guildford, south of London. (Photo by Justin TALLIS / AFP)

Bitcoin fell back below $90,000 on Monday, extending losses after its steepest monthly decline since the 2021 crypto crash, as renewed risk aversion drove investors out of stocks and digital assets.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency dropped 5% to $86,627, heading for its biggest one-day fall since early November and hovering near last month's eight-month low of $80,553.

Bitcoin shed more than $18,000 in November, its largest dollar loss since May 2021, when a number of cryptocurrencies collapsed.

Stocks in Europe fell in early trading, while US futures pointed to a drop of 0.6-0.7% for the major indices later on, and safe havens such as gold and the Swiss franc edged up.

Given its relatively short lifespan, there is not much in the way of seasonality to guide traders' expectations for how bitcoin usually behaves in December.

On average, since its inception in 2012, bitcoin tends to rise by around 9.7% in December, ranking it third in terms of performance, with October being the strongest month, with an average gain of 16.6%, and with September, the weakest month, with an average loss of 3.5%.

Of more relevance might be bitcoin's tight correlation with the stock market at the moment, Reuters quoted analysts as saying.

"Bitcoin tends to be a leading indicator for overall risk sentiment right now, and its slide does not bode well for stocks at the start of this month," XTB research director Kathleen Brooks said in a note.

"There is no obvious driver (on Monday), however, the sharp decline in volatility last week, the VIX fell back below the average for the last 12 months, may have unnerved some investors who remain concerned about an uncertain outlook into year-end," she said.

Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market value behind bitcoin, was down 6% at $2,840, having lost some 22% in value in November, the most since February's 32% slide.

Since hitting a record of around $4.3 trillion in size, the entire crypto market has lost over $1 trillion in value, according to CoinGecko.

US-listed exchange-traded funds backed by spot bitcoin witnessed record outflows of $3.43 billion in November, according to LSEG data. So far this year, a net $21 billion has flowed into these products.

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Business

China’s Factory Activity Snaps Record Slump on Festive Stockpiling

People walk down steps near a residential building area with a view of China Zun, the tallest skyscraper in Beijing, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. (AP)
People walk down steps near a residential building area with a view of China Zun, the tallest skyscraper in Beijing, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. (AP)
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China’s Factory Activity Snaps Record Slump on Festive Stockpiling

People walk down steps near a residential building area with a view of China Zun, the tallest skyscraper in Beijing, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. (AP)
People walk down steps near a residential building area with a view of China Zun, the tallest skyscraper in Beijing, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. (AP)

China's factory activity unexpectedly grew in December, snapping a record eight straight months of decline, lifted by a rise in pre-holiday orders ​as officials seek to spur the $19 trillion economy's manufacturing sector without worsening deflation.

The official purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to 50.1 in December from 49.2 in November, the National Bureau of Statistics' survey showed on Wednesday, topping the 50-point mark separating growth from contraction and beating a forecast of 49.2 in a Reuters poll.

"Assuming the improvement in the PMIs is borne out in the hard data, we think it will likely be a short-lived upturn in activity on the back of month-to-month swings in fiscal spending rather than the start of a more sustained pick-up," said Julian Evans-Pritchard, head of China economics at Capital Economics.

"The big picture is that the structural headwinds from the property ‌downturn and industrial ‌overcapacity are set to persist in 2026," he added.

Still, the data should ‌give ⁠policymakers ​cause for ‌optimism after choosing to see out 2025 without major additional stimulus to meet the full-year growth target of around 5%.

The production sub-index jumped to 51.7 from 50.0 in November, while new orders climbed to 50.8 from 49.2, marking their strongest performance since March. Supplier delivery times also improved, pushing the production and activity expectations component to 55.5, its highest reading since March 2024.

New export orders remained sluggish, however, edging up to 49.0 from November's 47.6, underscoring the need for officials to boost domestic demand and rely less on US demand, the world's top consumer market, in the face of President Donald Trump's ⁠tariffs.

Huo Lihui, an NBS statistician, said confidence appeared to be improving due to pre-holiday stockpiling, as the world's second-largest economy prepares to celebrate the Lunar ‌New Year in February, pointing to an uptick in the agricultural, food processing ‍and food and beverage sectors.

A separate private-sector PMI ‍published on Wednesday also showed marginal expansion in activity in December, driven by stronger production and domestic demand ‍in the absence of more foreign orders.

DEPRESSED DOMESTIC DEMAND

Ginning up domestic manufacturing without taking further steps to boost consumer demand risks worsening deflationary pressures, however.

In separate data released last week, Chinese industrial firms saw their profits fall 13.1% year-on-year in November, the steepest drop in over a year, suggesting households are not stepping in to pick up the shortfall as a slowing global economy weighs ​on exports.

At an agenda-setting gathering in early December, the ruling Communist Party leadership promised to boost income and stimulate consumption, although similar pledges in the past have struggled to deliver results.

Chinese consumers ⁠have so far been reluctant to spend, held back by an uncertain employment outlook and as a prolonged property crisis drains household wealth.

The official non-manufacturing PMI, which includes services and construction, was at 50.2, after shrinking in November for the first time in nearly three years.

Beijing's policymakers have come to recognize the need to rebalance the economy and transform its production-driven model as tensions with key export markets mount.

"The country's economic development still faces many old problems and new challenges; the impact of changes in the external environment is deepening, and the contradiction between strong supply and weak demand is prominent domestically," the readout of the Central Economic Work Conference said.

In an article published by the flagship party magazine Qiushi Journal in mid-December, President Xi Jinping said there was "overall capacity excess" and that "ultimately consumption is the sustainable driver of economic growth."

Beijing had previously rejected "overcapacity" as unfair criticism by Western governments towards China's industrial policies.

In a nod to those concerns, authorities ‌have this year vowed to crack down on price wars, prune production in some sectors and step up so-called "anti-involution" efforts.

The NBS composite PMI of manufacturing and non-manufacturing was 50.7 in December, compared with November's 49.7.

Business

Xi Says China to Hit 2025 Growth Target of 'Around 5%'

Pedestrians walk along a street in the Central Business District of Beijing, China, 31 December, 2025. (EPA)
Pedestrians walk along a street in the Central Business District of Beijing, China, 31 December, 2025. (EPA)
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Xi Says China to Hit 2025 Growth Target of 'Around 5%'

Pedestrians walk along a street in the Central Business District of Beijing, China, 31 December, 2025. (EPA)
Pedestrians walk along a street in the Central Business District of Beijing, China, 31 December, 2025. (EPA)

Chinese President Xi Jinping said Wednesday that the country's economy is expected to have grown "around five percent" in 2025, despite "pressure" during a year he described as "very unusual", state media said.

The announcement came in a New Year's Eve speech by Xi to a top political consultative body, reported by state news agency Xinhua.

Such an annual expansion would be in line with the official government target and on par with the five percent growth recorded in 2024.

The world's second-largest economy has come under increasing pressure in recent years, with consumer sentiment having so far failed to recover from a pandemic-induced plunge.

A persistent debt crisis in the property sector, industrial overcapacity and heightened trade conflict with Washington have also darkened the outlook.

"We faced challenges head-on and strived diligently, successfully achieving the main goals of economic and social development," Xi said in his remarks to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Xinhua reported.

"The growth rate is expected to reach around five percent," he said.

He added that "overall social stability was maintained" and an anti-corruption drive was "relentlessly pursued", according to the report.

Experts widely expect Beijing to announce a similar economic growth target for 2026 at a major annual political gathering in early March.

Data released Wednesday offered a positive sign for policymakers, with factory activity in December inching into expansionary territory to snap an eight-month streak of contraction.

Business

India Overtakes Japan as World's 4th Largest Economy

 A man walks at the seafront as scattered clouds are seen over Mumbai's skyline, India, June 10, 2015. (Reuters)
 A man walks at the seafront as scattered clouds are seen over Mumbai's skyline, India, June 10, 2015. (Reuters)
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India Overtakes Japan as World's 4th Largest Economy

 A man walks at the seafront as scattered clouds are seen over Mumbai's skyline, India, June 10, 2015. (Reuters)
 A man walks at the seafront as scattered clouds are seen over Mumbai's skyline, India, June 10, 2015. (Reuters)

India has overtaken Japan as the world’s fourth largest economy and officials hope to pass Germany within three years, the government’s end-of-year economic review revealed.

Official confirmation, however, depends on data due in 2026 when final annual gross domestic product figures are released, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) suggesting India will cross over Japan next year, reported AFP.

“India is among the world’s fastest-growing major economies and is well-positioned to sustain this momentum,” read the government economic briefing note, which was released late on Monday.

“With GDP valued at $4.18 trillion, India has surpassed Japan to become the world’s fourth largest economy, and is poised to displace Germany from the third rank in the next two-and-a-half to three years, with projected GDP of $7.3 trillion by 2030.”

IMF projections for 2026 put India’s economy at $4.51 trillion, compared with Japan’s $4.46 trillion.

The upbeat assessment comes despite economic worries after Washington in August hit India with huge tariffs over its purchases of Russian oil.

New Delhi said continued growth reflects its “resilience amid persistent global trade uncertainties”. But other measurements offer a less rosy outlook.

In terms of population, India overtook neighboring China as the most populous nation in 2023.

India’s GDP per capita was $2,694 in 2024, according to the latest World Bank figures, 12 times smaller than Japan’s $32,487, and 20 times smaller than Germany’s $56,103.

Government figures show that more than a quarter of India's 1.4 billion people are aged between 10 and 26. Creating enough well-paid jobs for millions of young graduates is an upcoming hurdle, but the report offered a rosy outlook.

“As one of the world's youngest nations, India's growth story is being shaped by its ability to generate quality employment that productively absorbs its expanding workforce and delivers inclusive, sustainable growth,” a note in the review said.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi this year unveiled sweeping consumption tax cuts and pushed through labor law reforms after growth slowed to a four-year low in the 12 months ending March 31.

Currency pressures have also mounted.

The rupee hit a record low against the dollar in early December, after falling about 5% in 2025.

That came amid concerns over the lack of a trade deal with Washington and the impact of higher levies on Indian goods.

India became the world's fifth largest economy in 2022, when its GDP overtook that of former colonial ruler Britain, according to IMF figures.