South Korea’s Kospi index slid 4.4% as the AI-focused market rally lost momentum, while roughly $101 billion worth of SpaceX shares are scheduled to become tradable on Thursday after the end of the company’s initial lockup period.
Bitcoin traded steadily above $64,600 on Thursday, gaining slightly during the session and remaining up 0.5% over the past week. Other leading cryptocurrencies showed mixed but mostly muted price action.
Investors are closely watching Elon Musk’s SpaceX, as the expiration of its first share lockup will unlock about $101 billion in stock for trading. The aerospace company also holds 18,712 bitcoin, valued at approximately $1.1 billion at the end of June.
Ethereum advanced more than 1% to around $1,904 but remains down 0.7% over the last seven days. XRP was the weakest performer among major cryptocurrencies, falling nearly 3% to $1.04 and extending its weekly loss to 3%. BNB declined more than 1% to $595, although it continues to lead the major tokens with a 3.5% weekly gain.
Solana slipped close to 1% to about $74, while Dogecoin dropped by a similar amount to roughly $0.07. Tron held steady near $0.33. Hyperliquid’s HYPE was largely unchanged at around $56 but has climbed more than 4% this week, giving it the strongest seven-day performance among major digital assets.
Alex Kuptsikevich, an analyst at FxPro, said bitcoin has picked up strength since Monday after buyers defended the $62,500 level and drove prices back above the 50-day moving average. He added that current market confidence is concentrated mainly around bitcoin rather than the broader crypto sector, a trend that often appears during the early stages of a longer market cycle shift.
The global equity backdrop became less supportive as technology shares weakened. The MSCI All Country World Index ended a five-day winning streak, declining 0.2% as chip stocks fell across both Asian and Pacific markets. South Korea’s Kospi, which is viewed as a proxy for AI-related investment sentiment, dropped 4.4%, with SK Hynix and Samsung among the biggest decliners.
U.S. and European stock futures edged modestly higher.
Gold prices rose 0.4% to reach their highest level since June as investors scaled back expectations for additional rate hikes. Brent crude stayed below $80 per barrel after Iran announced an agreement with Oman regarding a shipping arrangement through the Strait of Hormuz.
Markets are also awaiting SoftBank’s earnings later Thursday. The Japanese investment giant has committed $34.6 billion to OpenAI through Vision Fund 2 since September 2024 and owns chip designer Arm, making its results a closely watched measure of the strength of the private AI investment sector.
