Bitcoin held above $80,000 as South Korean tech stocks recovered from a sell-off and traders lowered their expectations for a Federal Reserve interest-rate hike.
Bitcoin (BTC) traded near $82,000 around Friday’s Wall Street open as crypto markets stabilized alongside a rebound in South Korean stocks.
Data from TradingView showed BTC/USD holding most of its reclaimed ground after bouncing at $80,000 on Thursday.
The earlier decline followed a weeklong sell-off in South Korean tech stocks, although Friday’s Asian trading session brought some relief. The KOSPI Composite Index closed at 5,668, up 2% on the day but still down 8.3% for the week.
US stocks largely avoided the sell-off in Asian markets but were mixed on Friday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index down 0.5% and the S&P 500 up 0.5%.
Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh offered investors some relief by avoiding any mention of further interest-rate hikes during a discussion with International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva.
“I don’t prejudge meetings. I don’t believe in saying now what I might do at the meetings that we have in the balance of this year,” he said.
Markets appeared to take Warsh’s tone as a dovish signal on rate hikes. Data from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool showed the probability of a 25-basis-point rate hike in October falling to 15%, down from 27% the previous day.
Economist Robin Brooks suggested that stress in the AI sector, a key driver of the Korea sell-off, could be at the heart of the Fed chair’s more aloof approach.
Source link
