Markets: Bitcoin, Ether rise in mixed trading; U.S. equities gain ahead of inflation data

Bitcoin and Ether rose in Tuesday morning trading in Asia, with other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies putting in a mixed performance. BNB and Dogecoin lead losses, while Polygon and XRP saw the largest gains. U.S. equities rose overnight ahead of the release of November’s consumer price index on Tuesday and an expected interest rate increase on Wednesday.

Fast facts

• Bitcoin gained 0.6% to US$17,207 in the 24 hours to 8 a.m. in Hong Kong, while Ether rose 0.8% to US$1,274 according to CoinMarketCap.
• BNB lost 2.9% to trade at US$276.28. The native token of crypto exchange Binance Global Inc. has been hit by reports that a review of Binance’s assets may have raised red flags, according to a story in the Wall Street Journal on Saturday. The review by auditing firm Mazars lacks information on quality internal controls and internal corporate structure, the story said.
• The total crypto market capitalization rose 0.4% to US$849.5 billion, while trading volume in the 24 hours to 9:30 a.m. in Hong Kong jumped 29.8% to US$35.1 billion
• Leading memecoin Dogecoin fell 2.8% to US$0.09, while copycat coin Shiba Inu token lost 1.8% to change hands at US$0.000008961. Polygon rose 1.9% to US$0.91, and XRP gained 1.5% to US$0.38.
• U.S. equities finished higher on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.6%, the S&P 500 Index rose 1.4% and the Nasdaq Composite Index closed the day 1.3% higher.
• Investors await the release of November’s consumer price index on Tuesday, a key measure of inflation in the economy, hoping to see a reduction from the 7.7% inflation rate in October, which was down from 8.2% in September.
• The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates by 50-basis points at its Federal Open Market Committee’s two-day meeting that begins on Tuesday, Dec. 13. It has raised rates by 75 basis points at its past four consecutive meetings.
• The Fed has increased interest rates since March to slow inflation, raising from nearly zero to a 15-year high of 3.75% to 4%, and has signaled that rates may end up exceeding 5%. The central bank wants inflation in its target range of 2%.