*

Markets price more US rate cuts in 2025

*

OPEC+ expected to extend production cuts

*

Yen steadies as reports ruffle rate hike bets

(Updates with bitcoin breaking $100,000)

By Tom Westbrook

SINGAPORE, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Bitcoin broke $100,000 on

Thursday as investors bet on a friendly regulatory shift in the

U.S., while Asian stocks were firm after Wall Street indexes

notched record highs on growing confidence in U.S. interest rate

cuts.

Bitcoin

hit the $100,000 mark in the Asia morning and was

last at $101,300.

"At the end of the day, it's just a number," said Geoff

Kendrick, global head of digital assets research at Standard

Chartered.

"But the reality is we've been able to get to this level

because the industry has become institutionalised this year

particularly - and that's mostly the ETF inflows," he said,

referring to exchange traded funds approved earlier this year.

The S&P 500, Nasdaq and Dow had all

notched record highs overnight. Over the past week and a half

markets have all but priced in an extra U.S. rate cut for 2025

and the implied chance of a cut in December has lifted from even

to around 75%.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan

was flat in morning trade as selling in Hong

Kong offset gains in Australia and Japan. Japan's Nikkei

rose about 0.6% to hit a three-week high.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell around 1%.

The closely watched U.S. ISM survey showed services sector

activity slowed in November after posting big gains in recent

months. Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields fell three

basis points to 4.182%. They were steady in Asia trade.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell made balanced comments

at a New York Times event on Wednesday, describing the economy

as in good shape but not really pushing back on market pricing

for rate cuts.

Earlier this week Fed Governor Christopher Waller had said

he was leaning towards a cut later in December. European retail

sales figures and German factory orders are due later in the

day, though the week's focus is on U.S. employment data on

Friday where a strong reading could reverse bond-market moves.

"Generally data in the U.S. has continued to be pretty

resilient," said RBC Capital Markets' chief economist in Sydney,

Su-Lin Ong, noting measures such as the Atlanta Fed's GDPNow

estimate are for solid growth at 3.2% in the fourth quarter.

"We think the market has got too much priced in."

S&P 500 futures slipped a tad while European futures

fell 0.3%. German stocks are up 4% in a week

and at record-high levels.

DOLLAR TICKS LOWER

The dollar tracked U.S. yields lower in the foreign exchange

market, although not by much. The euro was pinned at

$1.0520 by political turmoil in France, where the government

lost a confidence vote for the first time since 1962.

The yen has retraced some recent gains and

expectations for a rate hike in December have unwound following

press reports pointing to policymakers' likely caution.

It was a tad firmer at 150.31 per dollar on Thursday. The

Australian dollar, at $0.6420, was nursing what was its

heaviest fall in a month on Wednesday following

weaker-than-expected growth data.

Financial markets in South Korea were broadly steady after

President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed attempt to impose martial law

late on Tuesday triggered volatility and a political crisis.

In commodity trade lingering expectations of Chinese

stimulus supported iron ore prices, while oil inched higher

ahead of an OPEC+ meeting later in the day.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and

its allies in OPEC+ are likely to extend their latest round of

oil production cuts sources told Reuters.

Brent crude futures rose 0.2% to $72.42 a barrel.

Gold prices steadied at $2,649 an ounce.

(Editing by Sam Holmes)