Wall Street posts its third losing week while Bitcoin "Halving" imminent
The rally that characterized the beginning of the year is now displaying signs of weakness in the bull trend, which is causing concerns among Wall Street investors.
These concerns have been exacerbated by persistent inflationary pressures and the anticipation of prolonged higher interest rates, both of which have weighed heavily on traders' sentiment.
As a result, investors are undoubtedly seeking the exit door ahead of a flurry of "Big Tech" earnings scheduled for next week.
This sentiment was reinforced by the significant downturn in tech stocks on Friday, particularly after chipmaker Nvidia experienced a -10% drop in its share price, marking its worst session since March 2020.
Adding to the concerns, Netflix disappointed investors by revealing plans to cease sharing quarterly subscriber figures by 2025 - This announcement led to a -9% decline in its stock price.
Meanwhile, in other markets, Bitcoin halving is about to heat up competition for miners, with the cryptocurrency preparing for its fourth-ever halving on April 20th.
According to preliminary data, at the close of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by +211.02 points, or +0.56%, to 37,986.40.
The broad-based Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell by -43.89 points, or -0.88%, to close at 5,010.19, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index fell by -319.49 points, or -2.05%, to 15,282.01, down for six consecutive trading sessions.
Among the "Magnificent Seven," Alphabet lost -1.10%, Amazon dropped by -2.56%, Meta decreased by +4.13%, Tesla fell by -1.92%, Microsoft declined by -1.27%, Apple decreased by -1.22%, and Nvidia lost -10%.
Recent remarks by New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams and Fed Governor Michelle Bowman have unsettled markets.
Investors now anticipate fewer, or potentially no, interest rate cuts by the Fed in 2024, diverging from previous expectations.
Meanwhile, in the U.S. government bond markets, the yield on the 10-year Treasury, which helps set rates for mortgages and other economy-dictating loans, finished at 4.62%, while the policy-sensitive two-year yield, which tends to reflect market expectations of future Fed moves, closed at 4.99%.
Bitcoin investors eagerly await today's halving event in the crypto universe, which will slash the issuance of new tokens in half.
This supply reduction occurs when demand is rising, particularly from new spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which likely support prices.
Historically, the halving event has triggered a significant surge in Bitcoin's value.
Despite past value surges, some experts caution that this may not necessarily occur this time around.
Bitcoin traded within an intraday range of US$59,693.00 to US$65,441.00 before closing at US$63,799.00.
From a technical perspective, despite a recent decline from its peak at US$72,000.00, Bitcoin is still within the pre-halving "trading zone."
Support is estimated between US$56,000.00 and US$58,000.00, while resistance lies between US$78,000.00 and US$81,000.00.
Market participants closely watching the halving event's potential impact on Bitcoin's supply, demand dynamics, and price trajectory should exercise caution due to expected high volatility and adapt trading strategies to market fluctuations.
Meanwhile, Ethereum, the second-largest blockchain in terms of cryptocurrency market capitalization, traded within a daily range of US$2,872.00 to US$3,122.00 before closing at US$3,056.00.
Precious metal prices experienced another volatile session, with gold's recent strong performance encountering some bumps.
Gold's safe-haven appeal was mixed, resulting in spot gold settling at $2,391 per ounce, while silver closed at $28.65.
In the energy markets, the global benchmark Brent crude retreated to $87.38 after briefly surpassing $90 overnight due to concerns about conflict in the Middle East. Meanwhile, the U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate settled at $81.80.
The U.S. Dollar Index (U.S. DXY), which gauges the dollar's performance against six major foreign currencies in the forex market, has retreated from its recent five-month high at 106.10.
Meanwhile, the Eurodollar was 1.0655, and the British pound finished at 1.2368. The Japanese yen ended at 154.60, while the Australian dollar was at 0.6418.
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