Crypto markets stayed flat over the weekend. Investors were still feeling the pain from a big market crash last week that erased about 700 billion dollars in value. In the next few days, prices could swing a lot more. This is because government data will be released and a very important inflation report is due.
On Monday morning, the US President at the time, Donald Trump, repeated his goal of lifting the Dow Jones to 100,000. In the same period, US stock futures rose. Futures are bets on what stock prices will be in the future. They help traders decide what to buy now.
Meanwhile, precious metals are recovering. Gold climbed back above 5,000 dollars per ounce. Silver also rose, trading around 80 dollars per ounce. An ounce is a unit of weight for precious metals.
Economic Events for February 9 to 13
The country is in a partial government shutdown. This has caused delays in releasing some important data. One of the delayed reports is the December Retail Sales data. This data shows how much people are spending in stores and online. The release is now due on Monday.
After that, the big focus shifts to the labor market. On Wednesday, the January Jobs Report will be released. This report shows how many people have jobs and how many are looking for work. On Thursday, Initial Jobless Claims data will come out. This tells us how many people filed for unemployment benefits for the first time in a week.
Jim Cramer, a well-known finance TV commentator, said, “The most important thing, believe it or not, is the Labor Department’s nonfarm payroll report on Wednesday. If that comes in soft, it means the Fed can keep cutting rates, and that’s great news for the stock market itself.” The nonfarm payroll report counts jobs in the economy and is used to judge how strong the economy is. A softer number could lead the Federal Reserve to cut rates sooner, which many investors see as good for stocks.
Another important release is January’s CPI Inflation report. CPI stands for Consumer Price Index. It measures how the prices of goods and services bought by households change over time. The data will be released on Friday.
Here are the key events this week:
- December Retail Sales data – Monday
- January Jobs Report – Wednesday
- Initial Jobless Claims data – Thursday
- January Existing Home Sales data – Thursday
- January CPI Inflation data – Friday
- Five Federal Reserve speaker events this week
There is more government activity expected in the coming days, which could affect the data and further influence the markets.
These labor market data and inflation reports are very important. They help investors and the U.S. government understand what is happening in the economy. They also influence the Federal Reserve’s decisions about interest rates.
Angelo Kourkafas, a senior global investment strategist at Edward Jones, told Reuters that “Rate expectations have been remarkably stable over the last couple of weeks.” This means traders have not seen big changes in what they expect the Fed to do. He added, “We’ll see if any weakness in the labor market data or any cooling in inflation accelerates a bit the timeline for when the market thinks the next rate cut may be delivered.”
Crypto Market Outlook
Crypto markets did not move much over the weekend. The total market capitalization stayed around 2.45 trillion dollars. This is the lowest level for the market since November 2024.
Bitcoin, the most well-known cryptocurrency, recovered to around 71,000 dollars after a drop to about 60,000 dollars on Friday. However, it remains about 44 percent down from its all-time high, so it is still in a bear market. A bear market is when prices fall for a long period and many investors are pessimistic. You can learn more about Bitcoin in the encyclopedia.
Ethereum, the second-biggest cryptocurrency, rose back above 2,100 dollars, but it could not move higher. Like Bitcoin, Ethereum is also in bear market territory, down around 58 percent from its high in August. Many other cryptocurrencies with smaller prices, called altcoins, also bounced a little, but most did not rise much and stayed low after last week’s crash.
The article The post 3 Major Things That Could Move Crypto Markets This Week appeared on CryptoPotato, a site that covers cryptocurrency news. You can read more there if you want full market details.
Definitions
- Bitcoin — Bitcoin is the first decentralized cryptocurrency, created in 2008 by an unknown person or group using the name Satoshi Nakamoto, with usage as a currency starting in 2009.
- Dow Jones Industrial Average — The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is a stock market index of 30 prominent U.S. companies and one of the oldest and most widely followed market indicators.
- Consumer price index — The consumer price index (CPI) is a statistical estimate of the level of prices of goods and services bought by households, used to measure inflation.
- Federal Reserve — The Federal Reserve System (the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States, responsible for monetary policy and financial stability.
- Gold — Gold is a chemical element (Au) and a precious metal traditionally used in coinage, jewelry, and as a store of value.