Asia gets China trade boost, bitcoin shoots for the stars

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian shares rallied for a second session on Friday as economic news from China and Japan beat all expectations, and investors marvelled at the meteoric ascent of the market’s new crypto-star, bitcoin.

Beijing reported exports surged 12.3 percent in November from a year earlier, more than double the forecast, while imports climbed almost 18 percent.

Iron ore and copper imports enjoyed a stellar rebound, which might help stem a recent pullback in commodities prices.

Japan's Nikkei led the way as the yen eased on the dollar, rising 1.1 percent on top of Thursday's 1.45 percent bounce to be almost back where it started the week.

Revised data showed Japan’s economy growing twice as fast as first thought as business spending jumped.

Australian stocks put on 0.3 percent while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.6 percent.

Bidders were encouraged by a steadier performance on Wall Street, where the Dow rose 0.29 percent. The S&P 500 gained 0.29 percent and the Nasdaq  0.54 percent.

Still to come was US non-farm payrolls, with investors looking for 200,000 new jobs in November and much talk wages might show some welcome strength.

Also on the radar are negotiations between the United Kingdom and Ireland on how to run their post-Brexit land border, where a deal could remove the last obstacle to opening free-trade talks with the European Union.

Speculation about an agreement saw sterling rebound sharply overnight to reach $1.3474 , having been as low as $1.3320 at one point.

It was one of only a few currencies to gain on the US dollar, which was otherwise broadly firmer.

The U.S. currency cleared 113.00 yen to reach 113.34 while the euro touched a two-week low at $1.1766 . Against a basket of currencies the dollar held firm at 93.834  

DIGITAL DARLING

Bitcoin crested above $16,666 on the Bitstamp exchange having doubled in value in just two weeks. Other exchanges quoted prices as high as $22,000, intensifying the debate about whether it is a bubble about to burst.

The largest US cryptocurrency exchange struggled to manage record traffic, with an upcoming launch of the first bitcoin futures contract further fuelling investor interest.

Some, however, warned the coming of futures might prove to be the downfall of the digital darling.

“Dragging Bitcoin into the futures market poses a risk of big players opening doors to short selling hell,” said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Think Markets UK.

“Futures markets make it possible to short in decent size with a lot of liquidity, thus affecting the price discovery in the underlying asset market.”

The spectacular rise of the cryptocurrency has stolen some thunder from gold bulls, providing an asset that is also seen as a hedge against inflation and government interference.

Gold finally breached its recent tight trading range on Thursday to hit a four-month trough at $1,245.60 .“Demand for gold relative to supply has had centuries to reach an equilibrium,” noted Alan Ruskin, a macro strategist at Deutsche Bank. “Bitcoin global demand is still finding its place relative to constrained/inelastic supply.”

Oil prices had gone the other way as a threatened strike by oil workers in Nigeria forced a bout of short covering. Brent futures LCOc1 were barely changed at $62.18 a barrel, having climbed 98 cents overnight. US crude CLc1 was off 3 cents at $56.66.