(Kitco News) – The fear trade reemerged across global financial markets on Friday as the most recent jobs report out of the U.S. showed a decline in unemployment amid tight labor conditions, which signaled to the market that the Fed will continue its aggressive rate hikes.
The U.S. economy added 263,000 jobs last month after an expected payroll gain of 255,000. At the same time, the unemployment rate fell to 3.5%, coming in lower than the expected 3.7%. The response was immediate as asset prices across the markets plunged into the red as investors looked to capture what value they could ahead of expected declines.
Making matters worse, the US dollar resumed its climb higher, with the DXY knocking on the door of 113.00 and putting it within striking distance of the recent multi-decade high of 114.78 that was established on Sept. 28.
Data from TradingView shows that Bitcoin (BTC) was oscillating around support at $20,000 prior to the jobs report but plunged to a daily low of $19,336 within hours of the report’s release. At the time of writing, bulls managed to bid its price back up to $19,530.
BTC/USD 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView
Friday’s pullback has given bears a slight advantage, according to Kitco senior technical analyst Jim Wyckoff, who suggested that “Bears have gained just a slight bit of momentum late this week,” in his morning Bitcoin update.
“Still, bulls and bears continue to fight for near-term technical control, with neither gaining much ground and still on a level overall near-term technical playing field,” Wyckoff said. “That suggests more sideways and choppy trading in the near term.”
Sideways price action is a hallmark of crypto winters
For all the volatility and fuss that the crypto market has experienced over the past two months, Bitcoin has largely traded sideways near its 200-week moving average (MA), which has historically been a good buying opportunity.
200-week MA heat map. Source: LookintoBitcoin
That being said, many analysts in the market have taken a more bearish perspective following recent developments, including pseudonymous crypto analyst il Capo of Crypto, who posted the following tweet outlining a possible pump and dump in the BTC price in the near future.
$BTC ltf
Same plan. Price is at support and late longs have been liquidated.
Main target for the local top remains 20500-21000.
Bearish confirmation: clean break of 19k. pic.twitter.com/aXdqeRHf1n
— il Capo Of Crypto (@CryptoCapo_) October 7, 2022
It remains to be seen how Bitcoin performs moving forward as the top crypto has defied analysts’ calls for a sub $15,000 price for months now, and there’s a good chance that it will continue to hold support in the $18,000- $20,000 range.
And for traders who prefer to focus on the long-term as a way to avoid the stress brought about by the volatility that crypto is known for, Rekt Capital provided the following insight as to how history views buying BTC at these prices.
From the point of view of history and data science…
Anything below $35000 let alone $20000 for #BTC will likely offer long-term investors high ROI
Anything lower than $20K is a fantastic bonus for bargain buyers$BTC #Crypto #Bitcoin
— Rekt Capital (@rektcapital) October 7, 2022
Altcoins get rekt
The strengthening dollar spared few in trading on Friday, be they cryptocurrencies or traditional assets.
At the close of the markets, the S&P, Dow and Nasdaq were all deep in the red, down 2.73%, 2.04% and 3.8%, respectively.
It was a similar story in the altcoin market, with only a handful of tokens in the top 200 posting positive gains for the day.
Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360
The notable exceptions include a 13.5% increase for Hive (HIVE), a 6.43% gain for 1inch Network (1INCH), and a 5.96% increase for Injective (INJ).
The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $944 billion, and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 39.6%.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.