Sydney — The dollar held firm on Wednesday after Wall Street shot to record peaks amid signs of progress on US tax cuts. Bitcoin, meanwhile, topped $10,000 on more exchanges with appetite for digital currencies showing no sign of fading. Asian share markets were not as jubilant, held back by caution over the latest missile test by North Korea and concern about recent softness in Chinese shares. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up just a fraction, while China’s blue chip index eased 0.5%. Among the better performers, Japan’s Nikkei added 0.4%, while Australia’s main index rose 0.7%. The prospects for a US tax cut seemed to improve after Senate Republicans rammed forward their bill in a partisan committee vote that set up a full vote by the Senate as soon as Thursday, although details of the measure remained unsettled. Republican leaders conceded that they had yet to round up the votes needed for passage in the Senate, where they hold a narrow 52-48 major...
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