Market Wrap: Markets Seem Hopeful the Fed Will Temper Rate Increases That Crushed Prices

Unexpectedly poor data on U.S. job creation spurs speculation the worst of the bear market may be over.

AccessTimeIconOct 4, 2022 at 9:26 p.m. UTC
Updated Nov 14, 2022 at 7:53 p.m. UTC
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Price Action

Bitcoin and ether rose on Tuesday, logging a second consecutive day of gains.

Bitcoin’s (BTC) price advanced 2.8% on Tuesday, building on Monday’s 2.7% gain. The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization got back above $20,000. Prices rose 0.57% during the 13:00 UTC (9 a.m. ET) hour, around the time the U.S. stock market opens. Trading volume was double what’s typical around then.

Ether’s (ETH) price increased 2.4% on moderate volume. Unlike BTC, ETH started the 13:00 UTC (9:00 a.m. ET) hour trading slightly negative. ETH’s daily correlation coefficient with BTC has subsided recently, declining to 0.76 from 0.95 on Sept. 28. (Readings of 1 show two prices are moving in lockstep.)

The CoinDesk Market Index (CMI), a broad-based market index that measures performance across a basket of cryptocurrencies, recently increased by 1.89%.

Economic Calendar: The number of job openings in the U.S. declined to 10.1 million in August, the lowest since June 2021, according to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) published Tuesday. The figure had been estimated at 10.8 million.

This is significant for cryptocurrencies because the unexpectedly large decline could, in theory, prompt the Federal Reserve to pivot away from aggressive rate hikes to reductions sooner than expected.

U.S. Equities: Traditional stocks climbed for a second consecutive day, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), tech-heavy Nasdaq composite and S&P 500 increased 2.8%, 3.3% and 3%, respectively.

Commodities: Energy markets rose again on Tuesday ahead of potential OPEC supply cuts, with WTI crude and European Brent crude, two widely watched measures of oil markets, increasing 3% and 3%, respectively. Natural gas prices rose 5.4%

In metals, copper futures, often viewed as a signal for economic growth, rose 2.6%, while gold, which is viewed as a haven, increased 1.8%.

Latest Prices

Bitcoin (BTC): $20,379 +4.2%

Ether (ETH): $1,360 +3.0%

CoinDesk Market Index (CMI): $989 +3.0%

S&P 500 daily close: 3,790.93 +3.1%

Gold: $1,735 per troy ounce +2.5%

Ten-year Treasury yield daily close: 3.62% −0.2

Bitcoin, ether and gold prices are taken at approximately 4pm New York time. Bitcoin is the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (XBX); Ether is the CoinDesk Ether Price Index (ETX); Gold is the COMEX spot price. Information about CoinDesk Indices can be found at coindesk.com/indices.

Technical Take

BTC rises, seemingly on hopes that the Federal Reserve will “pivot”

Crypto markets traded higher on Tuesday on what appears to be expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will pivot to a more accommodative monetary policy, lowering interest rates instead of raising them.

The Bank of England’s (BOE) announcement last week that it will begin to purchase bonds in unlimited quantities, injecting money into the economy rather than removing it, raised the possibility that the U.S. will follow suit.

Still, the CME FedWatch tool (which tracks the odds of Fed moves on rates via trading in derivatives markets) doesn’t really reflect that, assigning a 59% probability to the Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee raising rates 0.75 percentage point, or 75 basis points, in November. The current probability is down from 62.5% before the BOE’s announcement.

On Tuesday, Fed Bank of New York President John Williams indicated that the bank still has “a significant ways to go,” adding that current monetary policy is not restricting growth.

Fed Vice Chair Lael Brainard indicated on Friday that “monetary policy will need to be restrictive for some time,” and that the Fed will avoid “pulling back prematurely.” Still she also acknowledged that the FOMC needs to be “attentive to financial vulnerabilities.”

Following the JOLTS report, markets appeared to be pricing in the possibility of lower rates.

The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) shows the dollar recently weakening. BTC and the DXY have maintained an inverse relationship since July.

Technically, the DXY has shown a slight tendency to react to overbought and oversold levels of the RSI (Relative Strength Index). The RSI is a momentum indicator, implying that an asset is overvalued when the level exceeds 70, and undervalued when it falls below 30.

On Sept. 27, the RSI for the DXY was 82 and has since retreated to its current neutral level of 44. Prices for the DXY declined 4%, while BTC rose 4.4% over the same timeframe.

Four recent RSI readings for DXY over 70 (Sept. 6, Sept. 1, Aug. 22 and July 14), showed subsequent seven-day DXY gains of .006%, 1.2%, 0.002% and 2%, respectively.

BTC traders must determine whether a lower DXY resulted from a shift in Fed expectations, or is a response to perceptions that the dollar is overbought, irrespective of the FOMC’s actions.

The BTC price increase appears to be less pronounced than the DXY decrease over the same time period, indicating an additional note of caution to trading these two assets in tandem.

Bitcoin vs DXY chart (Glenn Williams Jr/ TradingView)
Bitcoin vs DXY chart (Glenn Williams Jr/ TradingView)

Altcoin Roundup

  • NFT Firm Seeks US Election Commission’s OK to Market Campaign Souvenirs: Non-fungible tokens (NFT) would be given to donors like campaign buttons in a proposal to the Federal Election Commission from Data Vault Holdings, which seeks to market them to political committees. Read more here.
  • Elon Musk Reportedly Proposes to Proceed With Twitter Acquisition: Along with a spike in Twitter shares, Musk’s beloved dogecoin (DOGE) moved higher. Read more here.

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CoinDesk Market Index

Biggest Gainers

Asset Ticker Returns DACS Sector
Render Token RNDR +8.95% Computing
SHIBA INU SHIB +8.33% Currency
Elrond EGLD +8.01% Smart Contract Platform

Biggest Losers

Asset Ticker Returns DACS Sector
Rally RLY -6.25% Culture & Entertainment
COTI COTI -3.15% Currency
Chain XCN -1.38% Currency

Sector classifications are provided via the Digital Asset Classification Standard (DACS), developed by CoinDesk Indices to provide a reliable, comprehensive and standardized classification system for digital assets. The CoinDesk Market Index (CMI) is a broad-based index designed to measure the market capitalization weighted performance of the digital asset market subject to minimum trading and exchange eligibility requirements.

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CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.

Glenn Williams

Glenn C Williams Jr, CMT is a Crypto Markets Analyst with an initial background in traditional finance. His experience includes research and analysis of individual cryptocurrencies, defi protocols, and crypto-based funds. He owns BTC, ETH, UNI, DOT, MATIC, and AVAX

Jocelyn Yang

Jocelyn Yang is a markets reporter at CoinDesk. She is a recent graduate of Emerson College's journalism program.


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