Weekly news summary for Dec 7 to Dec 13

Friday, Dec 7: Cryptocurrencies Drop 90% from All-time Highs

Nearly all cryptocurrencies shed at least 90 percent from their record highs on Friday, with Bitcoin trading near a session low of $3,377.40 as news of regulatory investigation and a hard fork in Bitcoin cash has put the crypto market under pressure.

Cryptocurrencies overall traded in the red territory, with the total coin market capitalization at $107 billion, compared to Thursday’s $120 billion.

Monday, Dec 10: SoftBank Leaves IPO Price Unchanged at 1,500 Yen

Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp. fixed the final price for the 2.65 trillion yen IPO of its domestic telecom unit at 1,500 yen per share plus an overallotment of 160 million shares to meet demand, bringing the company’s overall share sale at about 1.76 billion shares.

The pricing places SoftBank market cap at 7.18 trillion yen, beating that of its larger rival KDDI. 90% of the shares being offered will be sold in Japan, with the majority going to retail investors.

Tuesday, Dec 11: Pound Under Pressure as May Postpones Brexit Vote

The pound lingered near 20-month lows on Tuesday after British Prime Minister Theresa May called off the parliamentary vote on her Brexit deal.

Following the news, the sterling-dollar pair climbed at 1.2566, having declined to 1.2507 in the previous day, it lowest level since April 2017.

Wednesday, Dec 12: Dow Up More Than 150 Points on Trade-Deal Optimism

US stocks strengthened on Wednesday, with the Dow registering a triple-digit gain as investors digested optimism over the US-China trade war.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 157.03 points to $24,527.27, while the S&P 500 added 0.6% to $2,651.07 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 1% to $7,098.31.

Thursday, Dec 13: Gold Prices Steady on Stable Dollar, Shares Rise

Gold prices were little changed on Thursday as the US dollar steadied and shares rose on signs of cooling trade dispute between the US and China.

US gold futures were steady at 1,250.00 per ounce while spot gold last stood at $1,245.41 per ounce. Palladium hit a record high, trading t a premium to the bullion.