Summary
- Market roundup for Thursday portrays mixed sentiment and U.S. Dollar’s rebound despite unimpressive statistics.
- Bitcoin drops back below $110K, Gold reverses from ATH.
- U.S. ISM Services PMI improved, but employment clues were mostly downbeat.
- Trump reiterates readiness to get a Russia-Ukraine peace deal.
- Crypto industry news is mostly upbeat, Wall Street prints mild gains without momentum.
Market Roundup for Thursday: Mixed Mood Prevails
Trading sentiment remains unclear early Thursday in New York as a slew of U.S. economic data surrounding employment, trade, and activities failed to anchor expectations about the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) next move. Also testing the risk profile were challenges for U.S. President Donald Trump and diplomats expecting a Russia-Ukraine truce.
Against this backdrop, Bitcoin (BTC) prints the first daily loss in four, around $110K, while the spot Gold (XAU) retreats from the all-time high (ATH) to $3,541. That said, the U.S. Dollar Index posts modest gains around 98.35 to reverse the previous day’s reversal from a weekly high.
Starting with the U.S. data, ADP Employment Change for August, an early signal for Friday’s Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP), dropped to 54K from 106K (revised) prior, versus 65K expected. Meanwhile, Challenger Job Cuts for August rose to 85.979K from 62.075K, whereas the weekly Initial Jobless Claims also rose to 237K compared to the market expectations of 230K and prior release of 229K.
That said, the second-quarter (Q2) Unit Labor Costs also eased to 1.0% compared to 1.6% expected and prior, but the Nonfarm Productivity jumped to 3.3% for the Q2, versus the analysts’ estimations and previous readings of 2.4%.
Furthermore, the Goods & Services Trade Balance for July also showed a wider deficit of $78.3 billion, up from market forecasts of $75.7 billion and $60.2 billion previous deficit figures.
Notably, the ISM Services PMI for August rose to 52.0 versus 51.0 market forecasts and 50.1 previous readings, but final readings of the S&P Global Composite PMI for August came in at 54.6 compared to 55.4 initial estimations.
Overall, the U.S. employment and activity data showed cooling conditions, joining the early-week economic releases and the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) monthly Beige Book, which in turn reinforced expectations surrounding the U.S. central bank’s further rate cuts.
Elsewhere, China’s decision to impose new anti-dumping duties of 33.3%–78.2% on U.S. optical fiber imports dampened market sentiment, as did reports suggesting China may curb stock speculation to foster more stable market conditions.
Meanwhile, Trump continued to criticize China’s relationships with Russia and North Korea, while also defending his tariffs and his decision to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook, despite a court ruling reinstating the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) head he had fired. Notably, Trump mentioned late Wednesday that he has been talking about the Russia-Ukraine peace deal with Putin and Zelensky, while also adding, “We are going to get it done.” However, there are no positives from Russia nor Ukraine, making Trump’s comments less convincing and keeping the geopolitical fears.
Crypto, Equity Update
In the crypto universe, most coins witnessed a pullback in prices as markets brace for Friday’s key U.S. employment report and the U.S. Dollar rebounds. Even so, the broader crypto market optimism prevails amid upbeat industry news.
Some of the top crypto news are as follow, while more updates like this could be traced to our Crypto Bytes.
The Nasdaq-listed Webus International Limited (WETO) formed a strategic alliance with Air China to offer crypto payment solutions to over 60 million PhoenixMiles loyalty program members. The joint efforts will bring Ripple’s XRP and RLUSD Stablecoin into Webus’ Wetour Travel platform to create faster settlements and tokenized rewards on travel services.
Also read: Air China Partners with Webus to Pioneer XRP Payment Solutions for 60M Travelers
Also on the development side was the launch of Ondo Global Markets, offering 100+ tokenized U.S. stocks and Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) on the Ethereum blockchain, making it the largest ever deployment of crypto-linked asset offerings outside the U.S.
Read Details: Ondo Global Markets Launches +100 Tokenized Stocks & ETFs
Furthermore, AlphaTON Capital, formerly a biotech company, acquired $100 million in TONCoin to build a TON digital assets treasury strategy, comprising yield generation and staking.
More Details: AlphaTON Launches $100M TON Digital Asset Treasury Strategy
On a negative note, U.S. President Donald Trump’s sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. backed American Bitcoin (ABTC), which faced a disappointing Nasdaq debut, following its merger with Gryphon Digital Mining. The firm’s shares dropped 95% on the first day of trading, listed at $184 and reached an initial high of $200 before falling to $8.04.
Also Read: American Bitcoin Stock Plunges 95% Post Nasdaq Debut
Elsewhere, news surrounding Etherealise, an Ethereum advocacy group, raising $40 million to introduce Wall Street to its blockchain vision, and Ripple’s plan to expand to Africa, also gained the market’s attention.
Talking about the U.S. equities, Wall Street began the trading day on a dicey note before adding mild gains. That said, Nasdaq and S&P 500 snapped a two-day losing streak the previous day, while the Dow Jones saw moderate gains, before today’s slightly positive performance.
That said, Salesforce stock fell 5.58% in after-market trading after the company’s revenue outlook came in weaker than market expectations, despite beating earnings forecasts.
This might have exerted downside pressure on the Wall Street during the early hours, especially amid a cautious mood ahead of quarterly earnings reports from Broadcom, Copart, and Lululemon. However, the upbeat release of the U.S. ISM Services PMI might have helped the equity bulls to witness mild gains of late.
With this, all three U.S. equity benchmarks are up nearly 0.20% intraday each after teasing the optimists the previous day.
- Gold retreats ATH, down 0.50% intraday to $3,540 after a seven-day uptrend.
- Bitcoin (BTC) snaps three-day winnings streak, down over 1.0% to $110K at the latest.
- Ethereum (ETH) drops 2.0%, snapping two-day uptrend while falling to $4,360 by press time.
- U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) reverses losses, up 0.30% intraday to 98.40 at the latest.
- Wall Street is slightly upbeat, with Dow Jones, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 all up around 0.20% intraday as we write.
- WTI Crude Oil stays weak, down 0.60% intraday to $63.30 after falling the most in a month the previous day.
All eyes on Friday’s U.S. employment report…
As most scheduled data are out and loud, ignored actually, the market participants may concentrate on Geopolitical tensions and further developments in the bond market for clear directions. Notably, the traders are likely to face inaction amid anxiety ahead of Friday’s U.S. jobs report for August, especially after last month’s controversial revision details.
With this, the U.S. Dollar could defend the latest gains and exert downside pressure on the risk assets like Bitcoin (BTC). However, Gold may face a modest decline, on a profit-booking, due to its traditional haven status and a technical breakout.
Also read: Market Digest: Bitcoin Holds at 112K ,Gold hits ATH as China Parade Stirs Tensions With U.S
