(Kitco News) - Global asset prices trended higher on Tuesday as markets managed to flip the script and head higher after an early bout of weakness brought on by a move from the Bank of Japan to adjust the cap on its 10-year government bond. The central bank’s actions inflamed already existent worries that monetary tightening by central banks may cause a global recession, but financial markets were able to recover as the day progressed.
The major stock market indices narrowly managed to avoid a fifth straight day of losses thanks to the afternoon recovery which helped the S&P, Dow and Nasdaq all finish in the green, up 0.10%, 0.28% and 0.01%, respectively.
Data from TradingView shows that Bitcoin's (BTC) price reversed course after hitting a low of $16,285 late on Monday and climbed to a daily high of $17,050 near midday on Tuesday before pulling back to support at $16,875.
BTC/USD 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView
While the move higher was a welcomed sight for many, it did little to change the overall picture for Bitcoin, with Kitco senior technical analyst Jim Wyckoff noting that “Neither the bulls nor the bears have any near-term technical advantage.”
This suggests that traders will continue to see “more choppy and sideways trading on the daily chart into the end of the year – barring any major fundamental shock to the marketplace,” Wyckoff concluded.
Further validation of the volatile nature of the market over the past week was provided by analysts at Arcane Research, who noted that “BTC has touched both December highs and December lows in the past seven days in a week heavily influenced by macro events.”
The highs were reached after the promising CPI figures were released, while the lows came in the days following the Federal Open Market Committee meeting where Fed Chair Powell delivered a hawkish message signaling further rate hikes. Bitcoin largely moved in lockstep with U.S. equities over the past week in response to these developments.
“In sum, this correlated response to important macro developments suggests that correlations with other risk assets will remain relevant in BTC’s price discovery onwards,” the analysts said. “The coming macro weeks are far quieter with few known catalysts, and the market could face a new slowdown as we near the end of this otherwise dreadful year.”
Altcoins trend higher
Altcoins likewise caught a bid in the afternoon move higher by Bitcoin, with some tokens in the top 200 managing to post double-digit gains amid the spike in activity.
Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360
The top gainers on the day include a 25.08% spike for Lisk (LSK), a 13.55% gain for Secret (SCRT), and an 11.26% increase for Magic (MAGIC).
The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $814 billion, and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 39.9%.
