The Big Question: Is the recent rally ending for bitcoin?

Prices of main cryptocurrencies were mixed overnight during the Asian trading session on Thursday, as the bitcoin price pointed lower, and ethereum and litecoin saw minor gains.

At midday in Asia, bitcoin was down by 1.8 percent to about $7,300. Bitcoin saw a huge drop on Wednesday, falling from about $7,732 to about $7,225, despite surging nearly 2 percent before midday in Asia.

The sharp fall on Wednesday came on the heel of the cancellation of SegWit2x – the controversial bitcoin protocol upgrade, as reported by CCN.

The virtual currency regained a small part of the loss on Wednesday night, but it was not even close to cover the deep fall earlier in the day.

Ethereum gained a slight 0.99 percent to about $311 before midday in Asia. The price of ethereum also saw a small loss of $10 on Wednesday after surging past the $300 mark earlier in the day. But problems with the virtual currency’s wallet security still lingers after reports of funds being frozen.

Litecoin’s price saw the biggest gain on Thursday morning, adding 1.62 percent to change hands at about $63 at midday. Litecoin has been now trading above the $60 level since it showed strong performance Tuesday. The technical in litecoin are indicating potential for further upside in the price, in particular if it can break through the previous swing high from October of about $68.

Also in the news: a board member of the European Central Bank said that the bank isn’t ignoring crypotcurrencies and that cryptocurrency trades are “speculative” and creates risks, CCN reported.

In Malaysia, the country’s securities watchdog is reportedly preparing regulations for cryptocurrency, which means the country is not going to issue any blank bans on cryptocurrencies.

Main Market Movers – Mid-day Asian Trading Session

Indexes Value at Midday Daily Change Japan- Nikkei 225 23,368 1.98% China-Shanghai Composite Index 3,416 0.04% Hong Kong –Hang Seng 29,167 0.9% South Korea – KOSPI 2,556 0.16% Australia-ASX 200 6,041 0.42% S&P 500 E-Mini Futures 2,539 0.1%

Most Asian equity indexes were trading higher on Thursday morning, led by huge gains in Tokyo that again pushed the Nikkei 225 to decade highs.

The Nikkei jumped 1.98 percent to 23,368 before midday. That’s the first time since January 1992 for the index to pass the 23,000 level, according to media reports.

In China, the Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.04 percent to about 3,416 before midday. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index added 0.9 percent to around 29,167.

Fresh data out on Thursday showed that China’s manufacturing sector remained robust in October, with the key gauge of factory activity PPI rising 6.9 percent from a year earlier, beating an expectation of 6.6 percent from Reuters.

In South Korea, the Kospi gained 0.16 percent to 2,556 before midday. Tensions are high on the Korean Peninsula after US President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued strong warnings to North Korea, urging the North not to “try us.” The warning drew a usual response from North Korea, calling the US president “mad dog.”