(Kitco News) – Bitcoin (BTC), gold, and stocks all struggled to find their footing on Thursday amid a surge in bond yields, with the U.S. 10-year Treasury (TNX) climbing to as high as 4.33%.
The spike in yields followed the latest Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) report, which showed a slight uptick in “core” inflation, coming in at 2.7% versus the expected 2.6%.
While the CME FedWatch Tool shows the market still widely expects a 25 basis point interest rate cut at each of the final two FOMC meetings of 2024, investors remain cautious ahead of next week’s Presidential election in the U.S. and are also closely watching the mounting geopolitical headwinds for any major developments.
The major indices all recorded sharp losses, with the S&P, Dow, and Nasdaq closing down 1.86%, 0.90%, and 2.76%, respectively.
Gold also experienced a rapid sell-off during the morning session, hitting a low of $2,731.81 before bouncing back above $2,745. At the time of writing, spot gold trades at $2,746.90 for a decrease of 1.44% on the 24-hour chart.
Crude oil was the one bright spot on Thursday, with WTI climbing 2.77% to a price of 70.51.
“Bitcoin has recently exhibited signs of volatility, retreating slightly after a robust week that saw the preeminent cryptocurrency advance nearly 10%,” noted analysts at Secure Digital Markets. “The minor correction is attributed to profit-taking but remains overshadowed by anticipations of regulatory changes post the forthcoming U.S. elections—a potential pivot point for the market that could surpass current expectations.”
Data provided by TradingView shows that Bitcoin fell below support at $72,000 near midday and didn’t stop until it tested support at $70,000 as bears attempt to erase the recent bullish move higher.
BTC/USD Chart by TradingView
At the time of writing, Bitcoin trades at $70,006, a decrease of 3.26% on the 24-hour chart.
Uptober failed to live up to the hype, but Bitcoin is still bullish
At the beginning of the month, crypto traders were in high spirits as they expected ‘Uptober’ to propel Bitcoin to new highs. The month got off to a rocky start, with Bitcoin flash crashing to a low of $58,855 on October 10, but bulls used that as a springboard to kick start a rally that saw King Crypto come within 0.5% of its all-time high on Tuesday.
That said, the theme of Uptober remains at risk, and according to market analyst Nagato, a close below $71,400 would represent a failure.
“Bitcoin is 10 hours away from a monthly close that could become one of the most important in its history,” he wrote in a post on X. “$71.4k is the line in the sand. Closing above it would add another confluence to the bullish scenario that recently became a reality after another successful Uptober.”
With Bitcoin currently trading below $70,000, it looks like Uptober won’t meet Nagato’s standards, but all is not lost, as it's still on track for a green monthly candle, which, combined with the positive performance in September, hints at further gains ahead.
“Bitcoin is closing today the monthly (1M) candle, and unless it drops by 7000 in a few hours, it will close the month of October in green,” noted TradingView analyst TradingShot. “That will be the 2nd straight green 1M candle since March!”
“This 7-month consolidation period is no stranger to BTC as such patterns, where there are no straight green 1M candles, are standard Accumulation Phases that we see during Bull Cycles,” he added. “So far on the current one, we've had three (including March 2024), and once the market closed 2 straight green 1M candles, it rallied.”
“The 2019 - 2021 Bull Cycle had three such straight green candle occasions and a very clear Accumulation Phase, while the 2015 - 2018 Cycle had numerous,” TradingShot highlighted. “One thing is clear based on this multi-year chart. When the market closes two straight green 1M candles, it is always a good signal to buy.”
Altcoins hammered amid Bitcoin’s pullback
It was a red day for altcoins in the wake of Bitcoin’s pullback, with only eight tokens in the top 200 recording gains on Thursday.
Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360
Kaia (KAIA) led the field with an increase of 9.85%, followed by gains of 7.8% and 3.9% for Ponke (PONKE) and Kaspa (KAS), respectively. Goatseus Maximus (GOAT) led the losers for a second day in a row, falling 12.7%, while Mask Network (MASK) lost 11.5%, and ssv.network (SSV) declined by 10.2%.
The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $2.34 trillion, and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 59%.
