Bitcoin hits new highs above $99,000, altcoins and Wall Street surge

● On Thursday night, with Wall Street set to close out the week positively, the three major stock indices recorded gains, while stock index futures dipped slightly.

● Futures contracts linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 14 points, a decrease of less than 0.1%. S&P 500 futures dropped 0.1%, while Nasdaq 100 futures declined 0.2%.

● These movements in futures contracts occurred after a positive trading day on Wall Street the previous day.

● On Thursday, the Dow rose about 462 points, an increase of 1.06%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.53%. The Nasdaq Composite index showed little change. Nvidia's stock price rose 0.5% following the company's earnings report beating expectations.

● All three major indices showed positive performance this week, with the Nasdaq Composite leading with a gain of 1.56%. This contrasts with last week’s seeming stagnation following Wall Street’s post-election rebound.

● Earnings data drove market performance amid more active trading. Gap's stock price surged 15% as the company's earnings exceeded expectations and it raised its full-year sales guidance. However, even though Intel’s quarterly performance surpassed revenue and net income expectations, its stock price still fell over 5%.

● On Friday, investors will focus on the preliminary Purchasing Managers' Index report for November, as well as the latest dynamics of the Consumer Confidence Index.

● Investors will also closely monitor BTC, which is currently trading just below the important $100,000 mark.

● BTC has risen for the fourth consecutive trading day, reaching a new high of $99,014.

● This largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has more than doubled this year, with a gain of over 130% since the beginning of the year, nearing the key $100,000 level.

● Earlier this month, Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election, coupled with a government commitment more friendly to cryptocurrencies, driving BTC prices to surge 46% in two weeks.

● Investors also welcomed the news that Gary Gensler, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, announced his resignation on Thursday. Gensler faced criticism from the crypto industry for his enforcement approach.

● The altcoin market also saw a widespread rally yesterday.

FTX Token (FTT) was the top performer, surging 35% in 24 hours. FTT has now recorded over 50% gains this week.

Optimism (OP) and XRP (XRP) followed closely behind, with daily increases of 25%.