Bitcoin Gives Up Gains, Returns to $26K Ahead of Fed's Jerome Powell at Jackson Hole
The value of Bitcoin (BTC) is moving closer to the $26,000 mark today, relinquishing most of its gains from yesterday as traditional markets also experience a decline.
At the time of writing, the price of BTC had dropped to $26,042, a decrease of approximately 2.6% from its peak of $26,789 on Wednesday. ETH, the second largest cryptocurrency in terms of market value, was being traded at approximately $1,640, showing a decline of almost 3% compared to yesterday's peak.
According to the trend indicators of CoinDesk Indices, both assets are still in a "significant downtrend" after the sudden decline in digital asset prices last week.
Stock markets have also experienced a downturn, with the Nasdaq Composite leading the way with a decline of 1.3%. The S&P 500 has also dropped by 0.8%. When it comes to specific companies, Nvidia (NVDA), a renowned chipmaker and popular choice for AI technology, has surrendered most of its gains from last night's earnings report. Currently, it is only up by 1% for the day.
Watching Powell's Jackson Hole Speech
Experts are eagerly anticipating the public comments of Jerome Powell, the Chair of the Federal Reserve, during the prestigious Jackson Hole Symposium hosted by the Kansas City Federal Reserve. This significant meeting is attended by prominent central bankers and economists. Investors will closely analyze Powell's speech for any indications or hints regarding the future direction of monetary policy.
John Glover, the chief investment officer of Ledn, a digital asset lender, stated via email that those hoping for evidence of the rate hiking cycle coming to a close will probably be dissatisfied.
The Federal Reserve is currently facing a crucial decision in their interest rates cycle. Despite the approximately 500 basis points of tightening over the past 16 months, we have observed that the economy has managed to absorb this without significant negative effects on consumer and industrial spending, as well as unemployment. Nevertheless, households and businesses are starting to experience the consequences of increased financing expenses, especially when their financial situations are not in good shape.
Economy Maintains Steady Pace
According to a report released by the government on Thursday, the number of people filing for unemployment benefits in the United States decreased to 230,000 last week. This is a drop from 240,000 the week before and is even lower than what economists predicted, which was 240,000. The data indicates that the labor market continues to remain robust with minimal signs of slowing down.
The GDPNow model from the Atlanta Fed is currently projecting a rapid expansion of 5.9% in the United States economy during the third quarter. This represents an increase from last week's forecast of 5.8% and a significant jump from the 4% prediction made by the model back in early August.
Revised by Stephen Alpher.
