Freepik

1. The standout feature in the markets right now as 2024 gets underway following the New Year holiday is Bitcoin rising firmly to trade at a new 20-month high above the round number at $45,000. This bullish breakout will attract interest from traders, especially trend traders. It is seen as partly driven by the expectation that regulators will approve a new spot Bitcoin ETF from Blackrock within just days.
2. Stock markets are mostly quiet off hours, but Asian markets are lower as trading resumes, dragged down by China following poor factory data and a downbeat speech from President Xi Jinping. The HSI is down by more than 1.75%.
3. Gold is rising bullishly, trading above its key resistance level at $2070 and looking likely to go higher. This will be interesting to trend traders after Gold made an all-time high price last month.
4. In the Forex market, since the Tokyo open, the Australian Dollar is the strongest major currency, while the Swiss Franc is the weakest. There remains a valid long-term bullish trend in EUR/USD and a bearish one in USD/JPY, although the short-term momentum was against this trend at the time of writing during the later part of the Asian session.
5. It is a public holiday in Switzerland today.

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