Crypto Markets Hold Up As Stocks Swoon

Ether Has Rallied 5.4% Since Monday

Despite moving in unison for much of the year, Ether has outperformed major U.S. stock indices this week.

The S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite were on track for five consecutive days of losses before rallying late Thursday, dropping 1.4% and 1.7% respectively since they opened on Monday.

Several major cryptocurrencies, meanwhile, have eked out gains over the week.

Ether has rallied 5.4% since Monday, according to data from The Defiant Terminal. Cardano is up 1.1%, and Polkadot is up 0.4%.

Bitcoin, Binance and Ripple have also fared better than the stock market, having dropped 1.1% or less since Monday. While stock markets hit fresh weekly lows earlier today, major cryptocurrencies held above their Aug. 28 lows. 

Despite their hoped-for use as an inflation hedge, cryptocurrencies have largely moved in sync with the broader stock market this year, rising and falling with the global macroeconomic outlook.

Inflation Fears

In particular, the U.S. Federal Reserve has driven macroeconomic sentiment this year. Investor appetite for risk continues to wane with each interest rate hike, and traders anxiously await the release of economic data that influences the size of those hikes, hoping for a signal as to when the Fed might pivot from its hawkish stance.

Those hopes were dashed last week, when Fed Chairman Jerome Powell gave a brief but highly anticipated speech at Wyoming’s annual Jackson Hole symposium.

“Restoring price stability will likely require maintaining a restrictive policy stance for some time,” Powell said, hinting at another sharp interest rate hike in September. “The historical record cautions strongly against prematurely loosening policy.”

U.S. employment figures will be released on Friday morning. Economists estimate that the U.S. added 300,000 jobs in August. 

In its daily market report released earlier this week, crypto market maker GSR said payroll data released on Friday “will be a closely watched data point as investors attempt to gauge the magnitude of the expected rate hike in September.”