Bitcoin posted the biggest gains during Asian trading hours on Thursday, along with increases in the rest of the top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. Most Asian equities were down as investors took stock of data that showed Chinese home prices falling for the ninth consecutive month.

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Fast facts

  • Bitcoin rose 11.33% to US$24,633 in the 24 hours to 4:30 p.m. in Hong Kong, as the day’s biggest gainer. Ether climbed 8.76% to US$1,683, according to CoinMarketCap data.
  • The rest of the top 10 cryptos also rallied on the day, with the day’s second-largest gainer Solana’s SOL token up by 10.04% to US$23.69.
  • Dog-themed memecoin Floki surged 81.67% to US$0.00005387, after Elon Musk shared a photo of his dog Floki dressed as the CEO of Twitter.
  • The global cryptocurrency market capitalization increased by 8.27% to US$1.11 trillion in the 24 hours to 4:30 p.m. in Hong Kong, with total crypto market trading volume up by 28.33% to US$76 billion.
  • Most Asian equities were down on Thursday, despite Wall Street inching up overnight from a stronger-than-expected report from the Commerce Department that showed a 3% rise in retail sales in January. 
  • The Shanghai Composite slid 0.96% and the Shenzhen Component Index lost 1.3%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed the trading day 0.84% higher and Japan’s Nikkei 225 inched up 0.71%.
  • European stocks climbed to nearly a year-high, as Germany’s DEX 40 exceeded €15,600 for the first time since February 2021, while Britain’s FTSE 100 rose above 8,000 points to a new all-time high. 

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