Bitcoin edges lower. Watch out for the job report.
Bitcoin
and other cryptocurrencies fell on Friday ahead of the release of the monthly US jobs report. With stock exchanges closed on Good Friday, digital assets will be a leading indicator of risk sentiment in reaction to the data.
The price of Bitcoin has fallen less than 1% in the past 24 hours to close to $27,900. The biggest digital asset remained below the $28,000 mark where prices have been hovering recently – around the highest level since the crypto crash accelerated last June, but below a recent peak near $29,500. Bitcoin is up 70% this year in a move that has spurred a new bull market.
“When a lot of markets will be closed, we will see if traders will look to take advantage of the one market that trades 365 days a year,” said Edward Moya, an analyst at broker Oanda. “Bitcoin remains near the upper limits of the trading range and could see a good chance to break the $30,000 level over the weekend.”
Cryptos have recently slipped back to their correlation with stocks, and are moving in step with
Dow Jones Industrial Average
and
S&P 500
in response to macroeconomic forces affecting both asset classes. With the stock market closed for the long weekend, it will be interesting to see how digital assets react to the US non-farm payrolls report for March, due for release at 8:30 am ET.
Bitcoin’s big rally so far this year has come amid expectations that the Federal Reserve will become more accommodative in monetary policy, ease back on rate hikes and possibly even cut interest rates in 2023. The central bank’s campaign of rate hikes over the past year in an attempt to curb inflation was a driving force behind the sell-off in stocks and crypto prices during the same period.
Advertisement – Scroll to continue
The jobs report on Friday will be a key data point for the Fed ahead of its next interest rate decision, and investors will likely want to see labor market tightness ease — but not too dramatically, which could signal the economy is at greater risk. of recession.
Beyond Bitcoin,
Ether
— the second-largest crypto — fell 1.5% to $1,850. Smaller cryptos or altcoins showed more of the same, with both
Cardano
and
Polygon
of 1.5%. Memecoins were weaker, with the wind out of their sails
Dogecoin
—down 10% — after an Elon Musk-driven rally in recent days
Shiba Inu
fell only 1.5%.
Write to Jack Denton at [email protected]
