Marketmind: To the moon? Bitcoin ETFs lift off

A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Ankur Banerjee

After the fake post comes the real thing. The long-mooted and eagerly anticipated exchange traded funds (ETFs) to track bitcoin got the official go-ahead at last, sending the crypto world into a celebratory mood at what it sees as a game-changer.

The 11 applications, including from BlackRock, Ark Investments/21Shares, Fidelity and Invesco, were approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, with most of the products expected to start trading on Thursday.

Estimates of first-year inflows vary widely, from $5 billion to $100 billion. These ETFs grant wider access but whether the famously volatile cryptocurrency is accepted by a bigger investor base remains to be seen.

Bitcoin was little changed in Asian hours and was last at $46,337, after the approval. That's because the world's biggest cryptocurrency has soared 70% since mid-October in anticipation of the U.S. regulatory decision.

In the broader market, investors are bracing for the U.S. inflation report later in the day that could influence the Federal Reserve's thinking on rate cuts this year.

While traders have reassessed how much the Fed will likely ease this year they are still pricing in 140 basis points of rate cuts in 2024, compared with the Fed's projection of 75 bps of cuts. Thursday's report will shed light on whether inflation is dipping towards the Fed's target of 2%.

With traders hesitant to make major bets, currency markets drifted with the Japanese yen clawing back some of its overnight losses against the dollar to stand at 145.36.

In equities, the Nikkei continues to party like its 1990. On Thursday, it blew past 35,000 for the first time in nearly 34 years, a strong start to the year for the best performing Asian bourse in 2023.

Futures indicated that the exuberant mood will move to Europe, with very little economic data on the deck for the region.

Key developments that could influence markets on Thursday:

Economic events: CPI data for Portugal, Netherlands and the U.S.

(By Ankur Banerjee; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)