Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, plummeted to an intraday low of $58,375, its steepest drop since mid-April, as ongoing pessimism over the number of rate cuts weighed on sentiment toward the cryptocurrency.
US stocks
The S&P 500 index rose slightly on Wednesday (June 26), as investors assessed their stock holdings after a booming first half of the year with artificial intelligence (AI) stocks leading the way.
At the end of the trading session, the S&P 500 index increased 0.16% to 5,477 points. The Dow Jones index inched up 0.04% to 39,127 points. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite index added 0.49% to 17,805 points.
The Nasdaq Composite is expected to post an 18.6% gain in the first half of 2024 thanks to strong growth in Nvidia stock. After falling for much of the session, Nvidia shares closed up 0.3%. That’s a modest increase after a 7% jump in Tuesday’s session (June 25). The AI ​​chipmaker’s $3.1 trillion market cap already dominates the S&P 500’s capitalization weighting, and its 150% 2024 climb has raised concerns that most stocks Others cannot participate in this year’s rise.
Amazon shares added 3.9%, leading the Nasdaq Composite’s gain. Amazon shares hit an all-time high and its market capitalization surpassed $2 trillion for the first time on Wednesday, joining Nvidia, Apple, Alphabet and Microsoft in reaching the milestone.
Apart from major technology stocks, the market was mostly quiet as investors waited for new inflation data on June 28 with the announcement of the May personal consumption expenditure (PCE) price index. The US Federal Reserve is closely watching this gauge, and investors hope that the central bank will lower interest rates at some point later this year if inflation continues to rise moderately. .
The recent decline in the broader market has increased speculation about whether the 2024 climb, largely powered by Nvidia shares, is on track. According to CNBC’s market strategy survey, the S&P 500 is trading 1% below the level where Wall Street strategists expect the index to close the year.
Most S&P 500 stocks fell on Wednesday, but there were some positive highlights in the market. Accordingly, FedEx shares jumped 15.5% after announcing better-than-expected fourth quarter financial results. Rivian Automotive shares jumped 23.2% after Volkswagen said it would invest up to 5 billion USD in this electric car company.
Gold prices fell to their lowest in more than two weeks on Wednesday, pressured by a stronger dollar and rising bond yields, as investors await US inflation data later this week. At the end of the trading session, the spot gold contract fell 0.8% to 2,301 USD/oz, the lowest level since June 10. Oil futures contracts lost 0.8% to 2,313 USD/oz.
On the same day, WTI oil futures contracts increased despite a sudden increase in petroleum reserves in the US. At the end of the trading session, WTI oil contract increased 0.09% to 80.9 USD/barrel. Brent oil contract added 0.28% to 85.25 USD/barrel.
Bitcoin and altcoins
The cryptocurrency’s decline earlier this week came amid doubts about the Fed’s ability to quickly cut interest rates from two-decade highs.
In light of the current situation in the markets, Fed officials recently made important comments that have important implications for cryptocurrencies. Fed Governor Michelle Bowman said on Tuesday that the time is not yet right to start cutting interest rates, dampening hopes for a US rate cut. She also announced that if inflation does not decrease, she will consider raising interest rates.
Bitcoin price broke below the descending wedge on Monday, falling about 7.5% from a daily high of $63,369 to a low of $58,402. After retesting the key weekly support near $58,375, BTC recovered 5.8%, closing at $61,806 on Tuesday. At the time of writing, BTC price is trading at around $61,000, down around 1.5% on the day.
If the weekly support at $58,375 holds, Bitcoin could encounter resistance at several key levels.
- The lower boundary of the descending wedge is located at around $62,000.
- The upper boundary of the descending wedge and daily resistance hover near $63,956.
- The 61.8% Fibonacci retracement and weekly resistance are at $66,631 and $67,147, respectively.
A breakthrough above these resistance barriers could push BTC price towards a retest of the next weekly resistance at $71,280.
The relative strength index (RSI) is currently below 50 on the daily chart, close to oversold territory, while the Awesome Oscillator (AO) is below zero. For the bulls to make a convincing comeback , both momentum indicators will need to maintain their positions above the respective thresholds of 50 for RSI and 0 for AO.
Bitcoin price chart 1 day. Source: TradingView
However, if BTC closes below $58,375 and forms a lower low on the daily timeframe, the bearish sentiment will persist. Such a development could cause Bitcoin price to drop 3%, returning to its previous low of $56,552 as of May 1.
Altcoins also have negative movements like their big brother Bitcoin, when most of the top 100 are sinking in the red, with the token that has lost the most on the day is Arweave (AR) losing 11% and closely followed by memecoin Brett with a loss of 10%. % while BONK and FLOKI decreased more than 8%. The remaining bearish altcoins are trading at losses of up to 7.8% on the day.
Only 13 tokens in the top 100 are increasing in price with Kaspa leading the way (+11%) while the remaining 12 altcoins are only up between 0.1% and 5.2%.
Source: Coin360
Investor sentiment is still filled with fear as the Crypto Fear and Greed Index is at 40 at the time of writing.
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The “Coin Price Today” column will be updated at 9:30 every day with general news about the market, we invite readers to follow.
Annie
Bitcoin Magazine
