Cryptocurrency’s surge paused in the late morning hours in the United States as investors likely held off on entering the currency market after a massive rally in recent weeks. Bitcoin (BTC) rose to a high of $71,400 but quickly retreated to around $69,000, reflecting a drop of nearly $1.3 over the past 24 hours. Ether (ETH) fell by 0.3, while Solana (SOL) saw a drop of nearly 2%. The broader CoinDesk 20 index fell just 0.6%, with Cardano (ADA) and Litecoin (LTC) posting mild gains.
On Friday, the government reported a significant slowdown in the US labor market, with just 12,000 jobs added in October, marking the weakest growth since late 2020. However, this figure may be revised or increased in November as the Bureau of Labor Statistics assesses how flooding in the Southeast may have affected the data. In addition, the ISM reported a 16-month low in its manufacturing PMI survey, which fell to 46.5 compared to the 47.6 that economists had anticipated.
Despite the reported weakness, the bond market is not convinced, as the yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond rose six basis points to 4.38%, its highest level in four months.
As for US stocks, they fell from earlier highs but still showed strength, with the Nasdaq closing up 0.7% and the S&P 500 gaining 0.4%. Amazon (AMZN) led the way, rising 6.1% after announcing strong quarterly results on Thursday evening.
While price action in the cryptocurrency market has been somewhat disappointing as the week draws to a close, it has been a strong month for the sector – bitcoin, for example, is up nearly 15% over the past 30 days. CoinDesk analyst James Van Straten pointed to the recent surge in interest in US-based spot bitcoin ETFs. Although their history is short, having launched on January 11 of this year, significant net inflows into these products have often indicated local price spikes.
