US stocks came out of the blocks strongly on Friday, with major gains across all the indexes, thereby bolstering investors’ hope of a better end to a very volatile week.
A news report by invezz.com, an online medium, indicated that in early trading, the S&P 500 recorded more than 2%, while the Nasdaq Composite surged more than 3.1%. Similarly, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had added nearly 400 points, up more than 1.3%.
The medium further reported that while the market was still held in the throes of rising inflation and fears of what an aggressive Fed tightening means, Friday’s relief came as investors now begin to look at the potential of two rate hikes of 0.5% each in the next Fed meetings.
Earlier jitters have been on what a 0.75% rate hike would do to already brutalized markets.
On Thursday, the S&P 500 and Dow closed lower, the benchmark index nearly hitting bear territory. The Dow had posted its sixth-straight losing day.
A further appraisal of the global markets’ trend showed that European and Asian markets were also higher on Friday, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 index up nearly 1.9%. UK’s FTSE 100 was up 2.3% while in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 2.64% higher.
Elsewhere in the market, the 10-year Treasury yield continues to hover above 2.9%, with 9 basis point gains on Friday.
Gold has shed 0.6% to $1,813 per ounce while Bitcoin has moved higher alongside stocks to currently trade at around $30,898. The benchmark crypto is nearly 6% higher in the past 24 hours.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies recovered some ground on Friday, capping a week of heavy losses across the digital asset market.
Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market cap was up nearly 5 percent in early trading to move back above $30,000, while fellow big names Ethereum and sSlana made similar gains.
A news report by ThisisMoney, an online medium, indicated that the jump in prices would come as little consolation to speculators heavily exposed to cryptocurrencies after a sustained period of selling, with little evidence this morning’s momentum will be maintained amid worries facing the market.
The report further stated that despite a 9.5 percent jump in the past 24 hours, according to Coinbase figures as of 10am, Bitcoin remained down nearly 15 percent over the last week and more than 20 per cent over the last month.
Bitcoin’s value has more than halved since its all-time-high of $64,500 a coin last November.
A similar pattern is seen throughout the crypto market, particularly at the larger end of the market cap spectrum.
