By Medha Singh and Ankur Banerjee

(Reuters) -Global stocks eased on Thursday after AI bellwether Nvidia's revenue growth forecast failed to excite investors, while the dollar firmed and bitcoin hit a record high, buoyed by hopes about U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's policies.

Geopolitical concerns following an escalation in the Ukraine-Russia conflict earlier this week dented risk sentiment, lifting safe-haven gold and boosting oil prices.

The spotlight though was on earnings from Nvidia, the world's most valuable firm, which projected its slowest revenue growth in seven quarters. Futures tracking the tech-adjacent Nasdaq slipped 0.6%, the pan European STOXX 600 dropped 0.3%.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe eased 0.1%, after being range-bound for most of the week.

"While we don't doubt there will be strong demand for Nvidia's products, that does not mean growth rates will be sustained and that is what investors care about," said Michael O'Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading.

"No company experiences this type of growth in perpetuity."

Indeed, Nvidia's fourth-quarter forecast indicated the company's revenue growth will slow to roughly 69.5% from 94% in the third-quarter. Demand for the company's AI chips, which dominate the market, remained strong.

Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo, said Nvidia earnings were a clear indication that momentum in AI was only growing, with supplies being the bigger headwind rather than demand.

"The structural AI tailwind could continue to be a key driver for equities into the next year."

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in China and Hong Kong were mixed, while tech heavy Taiwan stocks dropped 0.6%.

Attention was also on Indian conglomerate Adani Group after U.S. prosecutors said Gautam Adani, billionaire chair of the group, has been indicted in New York over his role in an alleged multibillion-dollar bribery and fraud scheme.

The news cut $30 billion in market value from Adani Group companies and dragged India's benchmark equity indexes lower.

SOARING DOLLAR

The dollar has been rising since the U.S. election on anticipation that proposed tariffs of the Trump administration will likely be inflationary and keep rates higher for longer.

The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against six rivals, was at 106.62, not far from the one-year high of 107.07 it touched last week. The index has risen more than 2% since the Nov. 5 election. [FRX/]

The prospect of the Federal Reserve slowing its rate cut cycle has also boosted the dollar. Markets were pricing in the Fed lowering borrowing costs by 25 basis points next month at 55.7%, down from 72.2% just a week ago, according to CME's FedWatch Tool.