- This trading week’s economic and financial data will be crucial to crypto investors.
- Lagarde and Powell to share their latest assessments of the economic and monetary policy situation on Tuesday.
Last week, the crypto market looked slightly bullish until the US Fed reserve announced its interest rate decision. The announcement of the rate increase by 75 basis points by the US Fed reserve caused huge trading volatility, as is usually the case. The rate increase also resulted in sell-offs in the traditional market.
However, the US Dollar Index (DXY) kept rising, hitting a 12-month high of 113.22. By the weekend, most US stock indices have dropped about five percentage points, almost hitting their June 2022 lows. Ethereum and most other altcoins also dropped prices, as in the traditional market.
The good news is that the price of the leading digital asset (Bitcoin, BTC) only dropped by a small amount. Initially, the Bitcoin price dropped to $18,153. However, it recovered and moved opposite the Dow Jones index (DOW30). It is remarkable that the highly volatile crypto and the US tech stock market, NASDAQ, weren’t hugely affected by the fed’s rate increase. Hence, investors may still regard Bitcoin as a store of value. However, in the coming weeks, Bitcoin’s price action will confirm this perspective.
ECB President and US Fed chair to release new statements
On Tuesday, September 27, 2022, Christine Largade (the European Central Bank, ECB President) and Jerome Powell (US Fed chief) will share their insights regarding the current monetary and economic policy situation. The insights from these two will be crucial as they will determine whether the EU, the US, or both are shifting their stance regarding interest rate policy.
Any announcement of a change in monetary and economic policies by either or both of these financial watchdogs to curb rising inflation will impact the financial markets (crypto and stock market). Another crucial data affecting the financial markets this week is the incoming orders for durable goods.
The US census bureau will publish this data by 2.30 pm (CET) on Tuesday, September 27, 2022. This data indicates the rise or decrease in the demand for industrial goods this past month. Analysts predict a reduction of 0.5 percentage points. Orders for durable goods dropped by 0.1 percent in July 2022.
It is important to note that each time data for the durable goods orders is higher than predicted, the US Dollar usually tends to be bullish. Conversely, when this data is lower than analysts’ prediction, the US Dollar usually drops, even if it is for a short period. Recently, a weakening US Dollar resulted in a surge in the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Meanwhile, crypto market sentiment remains in “extreme fear” for over a week. As of September 26, the average crypto market sentiment measure, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index, is at 21, with 25 being the limit for extreme fear. However, the crypto analytics firm, Santiment, noted that Bitcoin’s social dominance had reached a new peak in two months. Santiment further notes that this renewed interest could positively impact crypto’s top asset.