U.S. stocks, bitcoin and gold on Thursday were all racing toward all-time highs - an unusual development, as investors attempt to navigate a new and uncertain era in global financial markets.

Their convergence on the path to record highs has occurred only once since 2014, when the S&P 500 SPX, bitcoin (BTCUSD) and gold (GC00) each closed at their respective peak levels on March 7, 2024, according to the Dow Jones Market Data.

However, the catalyst this time looks to be different, with focus now on a signs that global investors want to trim their exposure to U.S. assets in President Donald Trump's second term. His policy agenda has sparked trade uncertainty around the world, while domestically it looks poised to add to the U.S. deficit.

A common thread underpinning the recent strength in bitcoin, gold and U.S. stocks has been a very steep downward trend this year in the U.S. dollar, according to Larry Tentarelli, chief technical strategist for Blue Chip Daily Trend Report. The ICE U.S. dollar index DXY, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of rival currencies, was down 9.1% to date in 2025 as of Wednesday, according to the FactSet data.

Gold, in particular, may have benefited as some international investors shift away from U.S. Treasurys in a search of other havens, according to José Torres, senior economist at Interactive Brokers.

In general, it has been rare for stocks SPX and gold (GC00) to approach all-time highs in tandem, with the former considered to be a risk-on asset, or an investment that tends to perform well when investors feel optimistic about the economy and are willing to take on more risk to pursue higher returns. In contrast, gold often has been viewed as a haven, or a type of asset that tends to hold, or gain, value during market turmoil.

Bitcoin (BTCUSD) mostly has been perceived a risky asset, as well, and has typically moved in step with stocks over the past few years, though crypto bulls have argued that it could eventually become a store of value or itself a safe haven.

While gold has continued its rally to fresh highs this year, market sentiment has been mostly risk-on, noted Blue Chip Daily's Tentarelli.

Stocks and bitcoin rallied as investors began to feel more confident about the economy, Tentarelli said. While foreign buyers may be looking to trim U.S. exposure, signs of a de-escalation on the tariff front from the White House have been bolstering risk appetite.

Trade tensions appeared to further ease with the U.S. and China reaching a "framework" for a new trade deal this week, and the labor market has remained fairly resilient, while data released Wednesday indicated that consumer prices were as yet feeling little upward pressure from Trump's tariffs for a third month in a row. However, that may be attributed in part to a huge inventory pull-forward among companies in the first quarter to skirt the new tariffs on imported goods.

Meanwhile, stocks and crypto benefited from an unwinding of bearish bets taken by traders in early April, when Trump announced a series of "reciprocal" tariffs against U.S. trade partners on what he referred to as "liberation day," according to Fawad Razaqzada, financial-market analyst at StoneX group.

Bitcoin, gold and the S&P 500 were each near their respective record highs as Thursday's trading kicked off. The S&P 500 had ended at 6,022.24 on Wednesday, roughly 2% away from its record close of 6,144.15 on Feb. 19, according to FactSet data. Bitcoin traded at around $107,032 on Wednesday afternoon, about 4.4 % away from its all-time high of $111,986 reached on May 22. Front-month gold futures traded at around $3,386.50 early Thursday, about 0.7% below the record high of $3,411.40 hit on May 6.