- Le Pen says days of new French govt numbered
- Villa boss Emery set for 'very difficult' clash with Newcastle
- Investors swoop in to save German flying taxi startup
- How Finnish youth learn to spot disinformation
- 12 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Panama leaders past and present reject Trump's threat of Canal takeover
- Hong Kong police issue fresh bounties for activists overseas
- Saving the mysterious African manatee at Cameroon hotspot
- India consider second spinner for Boxing Day Test
- London wall illuminates Covid's enduring pain at Christmas
- Poyet appointed manager at South Korea's Jeonbuk
- South Korea's opposition vows to impeach acting president
- The tsunami detection buoys safeguarding lives in Thailand
- Teen Konstas to open for Australia in Boxing Day India Test
- Asian stocks mostly up after US tech rally
- US panel could not reach consensus on US-Japan steel deal: Nippon
- The real-life violence that inspired South Korea's 'Squid Game'
- Blogs to Bluesky: social media shifts responses after 2004 tsunami
- Tennis power couple de Minaur and Boulter get engaged
- Supermaxi yachts eye record in gruelling Sydney-Hobart race
- Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupts, spewing columns of lava
- El Salvador Congress votes to end ban on metal mining
- Five things to know about Panama Canal, in Trump's sights
- NBA fines Minnesota guard Edwards $75,000 for outburst
- Haitians massacred for practicing voodoo were abducted, hacked to death: UN
- Inter beat Como to keep in touch with leaders Atalanta
- Man Utd boss Amorim questions 'choices' of Rashford's entourage
- Trump's TikTok love raises stakes in battle over app's fate
- Is he serious? Trump stirs unease with Panama, Greenland ploys
- England captain Stokes to miss three months with torn hamstring
- Support grows for Blake Lively over smear campaign claim
- Canada records 50,000 opioid overdose deaths since 2016
- Jordanian, Qatari envoys hold talks with Syria's new leader
- France's second woman premier makes surprise frontline return
- France's Macron announces fourth government of the year
- Netanyahu tells Israel parliament 'some progress' on Gaza hostage deal
- Guatemalan authorities recover minors taken by sect members
- Germany's far-right AfD holds march after Christmas market attack
- Serie A basement club Monza fire coach Nesta
- Mozambique top court confirms ruling party disputed win
- Syrian medics say were coerced into false chemical attack testimony
- NASA solar probe to make its closest ever pass of Sun
- London toy 'shop' window where nothing is for sale
- Volkswagen boss hails cost-cutting deal but shares fall
- Accused killer of US insurance CEO pleads not guilty to 'terrorist' murder
- Global stock markets mostly higher
- Not for sale. Greenland shrugs off Trump's new push
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- Norwegian Haugan dazzles in men's World Cup slalom win
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Bitcoin breaks $100,000, stocks mixed as traders eye S. Korea drama
Bitcoin burst past $100,000 for the first time Thursday as traders welcomed Donald Trump's pick to head the US securities commission, while Seoul stocks slipped as South Korea's president faced impeachment after his brief imposition of martial law this week.
After hovering around the mid-$90,000 mark in recent weeks, the popular cryptocurrency finally burst through the historic level in Asia after it emerged that Trump had chosen major crypto proponent Paul Atkins to take over as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Atkins is founder of risk consultancy firm Patomak Global Partners, whose clients include companies in the banking, trading and cryptocurrency industries.
And Trump's transition team noted he had co-chaired the Digital Chamber of Commerce, which promotes the use of digital assets, since 2017.
Atkins "recognises that digital assets and other innovations are crucial to Making America Greater than Ever Before," Trump said.
Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management said Atkins has "a track record of critiquing the SEC's tough stance on cryptocurrency firms".
"This strategic move has electrified the crypto community, fuelling investor optimism about a potentially more accommodating regulatory landscape under Atkins' watch," said Innes.
After breaking the key level, bitcoin continued to push higher and hit a peak of $103,800 Thursday.
It has jumped more than 50 percent since Trump's poll win -- and around 140 percent since the turn of the year -- on hopes the US President-elect will push through measures to deregulate cryptocurrencies.
On the election campaign trail he pledged to make the United States the "bitcoin and cryptocurrency capital of the world".
The rally in bitcoin came as traders keep track of events in South Korea, after President Yoon Suk Yeol's dramatic declaration of martial law which was lifted within hours.
The nation's opposition has now pushed for his impeachment, while the defence minister has resigned over the crisis.
The upheaval comes as Asia's number-three economy struggles to gain traction, while worries build on the possible impact of Trump's presidency as he prepares to reignite his hardball trade policy when he takes power next month.
But analysts saw some optimism.
"The silver lining we think is that the swift reversal of the martial law underscores the resilience of South Korea's institutions," said analysts at BMI, a unit of Fitch Solutions.
"For now, we expect limited implications for the economy and financial markets as the Bank of Korea and the ministry of finance have responded swiftly by reassuring investors," they said.
Trinh Nguyen, senior economist for emerging Asia at Natixis CIB, said the turmoil represented "a growth shock rather than a sovereign risk".
Seoul's Kospi fell only slightly in afternoon trade, having finished more than one percent down Wednesday.
And the won -- which initially hit a two-year low when the crisis erupted -- remained at around 1,415 per dollar, slightly up from its levels before the martial law declaration late Tuesday.
Investors are also keeping tabs on France after the three-month-old government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier was brought down in a no-confidence vote linked to a controversial budget proposal.
The news out of the eurozone's number-two economy had been expected and the euro saw no major impact, but the move injected fresh uncertainty into an already fraught political situation in France after divisive elections earlier this year.
Elsewhere in Asia was mixed as investors struggled to track a record for all three main indexes on Wall Street, where soft data on jobs and services boosted hopes for a Federal Reserve interest rate cut this month.
Tokyo, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Mumbai and Taipei rose but Hong Kong, Wellington, Jakarta and Manila slipped.
- Key figures around 0430 GMT -
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.2 percent at 39,360.72
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.0 percent at 19,547.01 (break)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 3,370.18 (break)
Seoul - Kospi Index: DOWN 0.5 percent at 2,451.41
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0522 from $1.0510 on Wednesday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2708 from $1.2702
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 150.26 yen from 150.56 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 82.79 from 82.71 pence
West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.1 percent at $68.61 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.1 percent at $72.38 per barrel
New York - Dow: UP 0.7 percent at 45,014.04 (close)
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.3 percent at 8,335.81 (close)
R.J.Fidalgo--PC