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Bitcoin Close to All-Time High After Topping $19,000

Bitcoin Close to All-Time High After Topping $19,000
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Bitcoin Close to All-Time High After Topping $19,000

Bitcoin Close to All-Time High After Topping $19,000

Bitcoin homed in on its all-time high on Tuesday after hitting $19,000 for the first time in nearly three years.

The world's most popular cryptocurrency was last up 3% at $18,918, near its all-time record of $19,666. Bitcoin has gained almost 40% in November alone and is up around 160% this year.

Fuelling its blistering rally had been a demand for riskier assets amid unprecedented fiscal and monetary stimulus designed to counter the economic damage of the COVID-19 pandemic, hunger for assets perceived as resistant to inflation and expectations that cryptocurrencies will win mainstream acceptance.

Bitcoin's 12-year history has been peppered with vertiginous gains and equally sharp drops. Its markets remain highly opaque compared with traditional assets such as stocks or bonds.

Its rally this year has prompted some investors to claim the cryptocurrency could more than quintuple in price to as high as $100,000 in a year, drawing eye rolls from skeptics who say it is a purely speculative asset.

"The latest run in bitcoin... has been fuelled by the lack of supply-side liquidity, especially on exchanges," said Jacob Skaaning of crypto hedge fund ARK36, adding that the volume of bitcoin on trading platforms was down amid high demand.

Cryptocurrency markets have matured since bitcoin's retail-fuelled rally in 2017, attracting bigger investors.

James Butterfill of digital asset manager CoinShares said growing activity in bitcoin derivatives markets "implies that sophisticated investors and institutional investors are now purchasing bitcoin."

Smaller digital currencies, which often move in tandem with bitcoin, took a breather after gaining sharply in recent days.

Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency, was down slightly after hitting its highest since June 2018 on Monday ahead of an upgrade to its blockchain network that is expected to make it quicker and attract more users.

The third-largest, XRP, gained 2%, turning positive after soaring almost 40% on Monday to its highest in 2-1/2 years.

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Business

Crude Plunges, Stocks Rally as Trump Says War 'Pretty Much' Complete

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - MARCH 02: A sign displays prices for gasoline at a station on March 02, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. Scott Olson/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by SCOTT OLSON / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - MARCH 02: A sign displays prices for gasoline at a station on March 02, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. Scott Olson/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by SCOTT OLSON / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
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Crude Plunges, Stocks Rally as Trump Says War 'Pretty Much' Complete

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - MARCH 02: A sign displays prices for gasoline at a station on March 02, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. Scott Olson/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by SCOTT OLSON / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - MARCH 02: A sign displays prices for gasoline at a station on March 02, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. Scott Olson/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by SCOTT OLSON / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

Oil prices tanked and equities rallied Tuesday following a wild day of swings that came after Donald Trump said the US-Israel war on Iran would be ending earlier than thought.

As the crisis in the crude-rich Middle East continued into a second week, with seemingly little sign of a conclusion on the horizon, the US president said that the campaign was far ahead of his initial timeline of around a month, AFP said.

"I think the war is very complete, pretty much. They have no navy, no communications, they've got no air force," Trump told CBS News by phone.

"If you look, they have nothing left. There's nothing left in a military sense," he added.

Trump told the US broadcaster that the United States was "very far" ahead of his initially stated war time frame of four or five weeks.

He later told a news conference in Florida that "it's going to be ended soon, and if it starts up again they'll be hit even harder".

When asked if he thought the war could end in days or weeks, he replied: "I think soon. Very soon."

The US leader also threatened an attack of "incalculable" size if Tehran blocks oil supplies coming through the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global supplies pass.

His remarks come just days after he issued a statement saying Iran's "unconditional surrender" was the only acceptable outcome for ending the war, which sent shivers through markets fearing an elongated war.

Still, Iran's Revolutionary Guards responded by saying that they, not the Americans, would "determine the end of the war".

Investors jumped on the comments, sending crude prices plunging around 10 percent Tuesday.

That came a day after extreme swings that saw the commodity rocket 30 percent to a peak above $119 a barrel before plunging to as low as $84.

The recovery had already begun earlier Monday after it emerged that finance ministers from the Group of Seven industrialized nations would discuss tapping stockpiles to ease supply constraints.

Trump also said he would waive some Ukraine war-linked sanctions on Russian oil sales to India, with White House officials reassuring G7 partners that the move would only be temporary.

And Asian stock markets rallied, with Seoul up more than six percent and Tokyo gaining more than three percent. There were also healthy advances in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Wellington, Taipei, Manila and Jakarta.

That came after all three main indexes on Wall Street ended sharply higher, having reversed early heavy selling.

Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts focused Monday on the Strait of Hormuz, which has been blocked to nearly all oil tankers.

French President Emmanuel Macron said France was working with allies on a "purely defensive" mission to reopen the waterway.

About 10 vessels in or near the Strait of Hormuz have come under attack since Iran blocked the strait in retaliation for the US-Israeli strikes, shipping experts say.

Global shipping giant MSC announced it was formally halting some export shipments from the Gulf, while Bahrain's state-owned energy company Bapco joined counterparts in Qatar and Kuwait in declaring "force majeure" -- a warning that events beyond its control may lead it to miss export targets.

The Saudi defense ministry said Monday it had thwarted a drone attack targeting an oil field in the kingdom's east, near the Emirati border.

"It has been an incredibly wild ride for traders and investors to navigate the price action put to them over the past 24 hours, with breathtaking reversals taking place across many parts of the financial markets," Chris Weston, an analyst at Pepperstone.

"The pressure valve has clearly been released for now. However, volatility across energy markets remains exceptionally elevated.

"While the most extreme stress has eased, markets are still pricing a significant degree of uncertainty and risk.

"The geopolitical backdrop remains fluid, and traders should expect volatility to remain a defining feature of the trading environment in the days ahead."

Business

Polish, Czech Republic Curb Bond Sales as Iran War Turmoil Jolts Markets

A trader monitors stock prices at a Stock Exchange in Karachi, Pakistan, 09 March 2026. EPA/REHAN KHAN
A trader monitors stock prices at a Stock Exchange in Karachi, Pakistan, 09 March 2026. EPA/REHAN KHAN
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Polish, Czech Republic Curb Bond Sales as Iran War Turmoil Jolts Markets

A trader monitors stock prices at a Stock Exchange in Karachi, Pakistan, 09 March 2026. EPA/REHAN KHAN
A trader monitors stock prices at a Stock Exchange in Karachi, Pakistan, 09 March 2026. EPA/REHAN KHAN

Poland canceled a bond swap tender and the Czech Republic slashed the size of a planned auction for Wednesday as the Iran war roiled global markets, sending regional yields surging, debt managers said on Monday.

Bonds across the globe sank on Monday as the US-Israeli war with Iran pushed surging oil prices near $120 a barrel, heightening investor fears over inflation which may prompt European central banks to hike interest rates this year.

"Due to the increased volatility on the domestic market... the bond swap tender planned for (March 11) will not be organized," the Polish finance ministry said in a statement, Reuters reported.

"The consistently built pool of liquid funds at the disposal of the Ministry of Finance, exceeding 160 billion zlotys ($43.34 billion), makes it possible to take actions adequate to the market situation."

Meanwhile, the Czech finance ministry said it would nearly halve its bond offer at a Wednesday auction to 5 billion crowns, from a previously planned 9 billion crowns, in reaction to developments in global markets.

Polish 10-year bond yields reached 5.723% at 1412 GMT, having earlier scaled one-year highs, while Czech 10-year yields stood at 4.993%, their highest level in more than two years.

Elsewhere in the region, Hungary's 10-year bond yields rose to their highest since November 2023, with the 10-year paper bid at 7.46%, up nearly 100 basis points from late-February levels.

Hungarian debt agency AKK did not immediately respond to emailed questions on whether it planned any measures to follow moves by the Polish and Czech finance ministries in response to the market turmoil.

Slovakia, a euro zone member, has confirmed it still planned to sell bonds maturing in 2031, 2036, 2037, 2043 at an auction on March 16.

Business

Global Sugar Prices Rally as Oil surges, Driven by Middle East War

Small pieces of sugar (Pixels)
Small pieces of sugar (Pixels)
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Global Sugar Prices Rally as Oil surges, Driven by Middle East War

Small pieces of sugar (Pixels)
Small pieces of sugar (Pixels)

World sugar prices surged on Monday as the US-Israel war with Iran disrupted oil supplies, pushing crude oil prices to $119 a barrel and sparking fears that Brazilian cane mills would ramp up ethanol production at the expense of sugar.

Most ethanol in Brazil, the world's largest sugar producer and exporter, is made from sugarcane, meaning increased cane allocation for biofuel production would reduce the raw material available to produce sugar.

At 1422 GMT, raw sugar price futures on the ICE exchange rose3.4% at 14.58 cents per lb, while white sugar futures were up 1.5% at $420.70 a metric ton, after earlier gaining nearly 3%, Reuters reported.

Ethanol demand is growing thanks to soaring crude oil prices, which have now more than doubled since the start of the year, said Alberto Peixoto, director at broker and consultant AP Commodities.

Oil prices soared to their highest levels since mid-2022 earlier, as the Strait of Hormuz remained virtually closed, cutting off countries worldwide from a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.

The spike in energy prices has overshadowed the impact of a rising dollar, which usually curbs dollar-priced commodities like sugar by making them more expensive for non-US currency holders.

What is keeping sugar's gains in check, however, is the risk of weaker demand from the Gulf States. According to sugar consultant Michael McDougall, the Gulf imports roughly 10% of the world's raw sugar via the Strait of Hormuz each year.

In other soft commodities traded, arabica coffee rose 1.1% to $2.9645 per lb, having gained 4.5% last week, while robusta coffee dipped 0.3% to $3,763 a ton, having gained 4% last week.

London cocoa was little changed at 2,315 pounds per ton, while New York cocoa was also little changed at $3,229 a ton.