CNBC Daily Open: Bitcoin dances close to $100,000 — and strategists are split on its ascent

European markets closed higher
U.S. markets were closed for the Thanksgiving vacation connected Thursday. The pan-European Stoxx 600 added 0.46%, pulling backmost slightly from gains earlier successful the day. Shares of British security steadfast Direct Line surged 41.4%, their highest level since aboriginal 2023, aft it said a takeover connection from rival Aviva "substantially undervalued" the company.

Looser spot export prohibition by U.S.
Shares of planetary semiconductor suppliers, specified arsenic ASML and Tokyo Electron, jumped connected Thursday connected reports that the U.S. mightiness instrumentality export restrictions that are little strict than expected. The study stated that the U.S. is considering adding less of Huawei's suppliers to an export blacklist.

Tighter tungsten export power by China
China volition commencement limiting exports of tungsten this weekend, arsenic portion of measures that power the travel of goods that tin beryllium utilized for some subject and civilian purposes. It's a stark reversal of the past decades, erstwhile China controlled 80% of the tungsten proviso chain, according to Argus. To marque up for the driblet successful supply, companies are looking to unfastened oregon resume accumulation successful tungsten mines.

Russia ruble rout
The Russian ruble weakened to 114 against the dollar connected Wednesday. That's its lowest level since March 2022, soon aft the state invaded Ukraine. Russia's cardinal slope intervened connected the aforesaid day, saying it would halt overseas purchases connected the home currency marketplace for the remainder of the twelvemonth "in bid to trim the volatility of fiscal markets."

[PRO] 'Europe is simply a banal picker's market'
While Morgan Stanley downgraded European equities to neutral earlier this year, the Wall Street slope has precocious reevaluated its stance. "Europe is simply a banal picker's market" now, Morgan Stanley said, and determination is "material scope for alpha generation" for the close stocks.

Bitcoin danced seductively adjacent to the $100,000 level this week — astatine its highest, it was little than $1,000 distant — but that intelligence highest was retired of scope for the cryptocurrency. It retreated to arsenic debased arsenic $90,702.27 connected Tuesday, earlier stirring itself up to commercialized astatine astir $95,600 today.

One crushed it fell was that investors cashed in connected bitcoin's unprecedentedly precocious price, expanding the proviso of bitcoin. "Long-term holders person started to administer important amounts of bitcoins into the caller rally," Andre Dragosch, caput of probe for Europe astatine crypto-focused plus absorption steadfast Bitwise, wrote successful a probe enactment shared Monday.

But determination are much cardinal reasons immoderate strategists aren't definite bitcoin tin muster capable spot to interaction the six-digit milestone.

The $100,000 people "feels arsenic if it has go a precocious hurdle, if not a barrier, for further gains," said David Morrison, elder marketplace expert astatine brokerage steadfast Trade Nation.

In fact, bitcoin's caller surge mightiness beryllium giving investors a mendacious consciousness of security, according to George Milling-Stanley, State Street Global Advisors' main golden strategist. "Bitcoin, axenic and simple, it's a instrumentality play," said Milling-Stanley, which suggests that investors are piling into bitcoin to reap superior gains and not due to the fact that they spot worth oregon usage successful the cryptocurrency.

The motorboat of options connected spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds past week mightiness person thing to bash with that. Options let investors to deploy little currency to stake connected bitcoin's terms movements, alternatively than buying a information of bitcoin itself.

Indeed, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz, a longtime crypto investor, told CNBC that "the crypto assemblage is levered to the gills, and truthful determination volition beryllium a correction."

That said, a correction isn't a imperishable deflation. And if conscionable a fraction of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's promises to the crypto industry are realized, the $100,000 terms level whitethorn not beryllium a ceiling, but conscionable different rung that bitcoin passes connected its celebratory ascent upward.

— CNBC's Tanaya Macheel, Ryan Browne, MacKenzie Sigalos and Krysta Escobar contributed to this report.