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Bitcoin on the charge, nears $100,000

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Dollar firms as traders pare rate cut bets

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Russia-Ukraine concerns lift gold, oil

(Updates at 1240 GMT)

By Medha Singh and Ankur Banerjee

Nov 21 (Reuters) - Global stocks eased on Thursday after

AI bellwether Nvidia's ( NVDA ) revenue growth forecast failed to excite

investors, while the dollar firmed and bitcoin hit a record

high, buoyed by hopes about U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's

policies.

Rising tensions this week in the 33-month-old war between

Ukraine and Russia weighed on risk sentiment, lifting safe-haven

gold and boosting oil prices.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe was

little changed, after being range-bound for most of the week.

The index hit a record high just last week.

"Equity markets look a bit toppish here. Markets are waiting

for some direction," said Peter Schaffrik, global macro

strategist at RBC Capital Markets.

Expectations were high heading into results from the world's

most valuable firm Nvidia ( NVDA ), which projected the slowest

revenue growth in seven quarters when it reported after

Wednesday's closing bell.

"While we don't doubt there will be strong demand for

Nvidia's ( NVDA ) products, that does not mean growth rates will be

sustained," said Michael O'Rourke, chief market strategist at

JonesTrading.

"No company experiences this type of growth in perpetuity."

Its shares, however, pared losses to stand only 1% lower in

U.S. premarket trading with Wall Street on track for a slightly

higher open. The pan European STOXX 600 edged up 0.1%.

Despite the disappointing forecast, there was a clear

indication that momentum in AI was only growing, with supplies

being the bigger headwind rather than demand, analysts said.

Bourses in China and Hong Kong were mixed, while

tech heavy Taiwan stocks dropped 0.6%.

Attention was also on Indian conglomerate Adani Group after

U.S. prosecutors said Gautam Adani, billionaire chair of the

group, has been indicted in New York over his role in an alleged

multibillion-dollar bribery and fraud scheme.

The news cut $27 billion in market value from Adani Group

companies and dragged India's benchmark equity indexes lower.

BITCOIN NEARS $100,000

Bitcoin has been on a tear since the Nov. 5 U.S.

election as the Trump administration is expected to relax

regulations and be crypto friendly.

The world's largest cryptocurrency soared to a record of

$98,367, closing in on the $100,000 milestone.

Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday that Trump's team is

holding discussions with the digital asset industry about

whether to create a new White House post solely dedicated to

crypto policy.

"Bitcoin has got a life of its own after elections," said

Schaffrik. "Equity markets have moved sideways a bit (this week)

but bitcoin is a story of its own. It used to be quite

correlated with equities earlier, it was a good risk proxy."

The dollar has also been rising since the election on

anticipation that tariffs proposed by the Trump administration

will likely be inflationary and keep rates higher for longer.

The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency

against six others, was at 106.63, not far from the one-year

high of 107.07 touched last week. The index has risen more than

2% since the election.

Markets were pricing in a 55.7% chance the Fed lowers

borrowing costs by 25 basis points next month, down from 72.2%

just a week ago, according to CME's FedWatch Tool.

Two Federal Reserve governors on Wednesday laid out

competing visions of where U.S. monetary policy may be heading,

with one citing concerns about inflation and another expressing

confidence that price pressures will continue to ease.

Across the Atlantic, attention will be on business surveys

in the euro zone on Friday that could offer clues on the

European Central Bank's policy path as the bloc's currency

threatens to break below 1.05 level against the dollar,

Schaffrik said.

The common currency briefly breached that level on Friday

and has moved sideways since. It was last at $1.05255.

The rise in the dollar has pushed the Japanese yen back into

intervention territory, leading to verbal warnings from

officials. On Thursday, the Japanese currency

strengthened to 154.395 per dollar after weakening to as much as

155.86 in the previous session.

Oil prices rose on supply concerns triggered by the ongoing

war between Russia and Ukraine with Brent crude futures

firming about 2% to $74.22, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate

futures gained 1.3% at $69.63.

Gold prices climbed for a fourth straight session on demand

for lower risk assets, with spot gold gaining 0.6% to

$2,665 per ounce.

(Editing by William Maclean, Kirsten Donovan)