It
was
a
day
of
positive
divergence
for
crypto
bulls
as
stocks
tumbled
late
in
the
U.S.
trading
session
while
bitcoin
(BTC)
managed
to
erase
most
of
the
week’s
losses.
In
late
afternoon
action,
the
S&P
500
and
Nasdaq
were
each
lower
by
nearly
1%
–
not
a
huge
loss,
but
about
a
2%
reversal
off
of
earlier
session
highs.
Behind
the
moves
lower
were
hawkish
comments
from
Minneapolis
Fed
President
Neel
Kashkari.
“If
we
continue
to
see
inflation
moving
sideways,
then
that
would
make
me
question
whether
we
[need]
to
do
those
rate
cuts
at
all,”
said
Kashkari
at
a
virtual
event
on
LinkedIn.
Kashkari
has
been
among
the
more
hawkish
Fed
members
this
cycle
so
his
remarks
shouldn’t
have
been
too
unexpected,
but
stocks
quickly
reacted
to
the
downside.
His
comments
were
also
at
odds
with
those
yesterday
from
Fed
Chairman
Jerome
Powell,
who
told
an
audience
at
Stanford
that
he
continues
to
expect
rate
cuts
at
some
point
this
year.
Nevertheless,
the
rate
outlook
could
come
more
clearly
into
focus
on
Friday
with
the
release
of
the
government’s
March
employment
data.
To
date,
those
hoping
weakening
jobs
numbers
might
prompt
the
Fed
to
move
more
quickly
to
a
rate
cut
cycle
have
been
disappointed,
with
employment
growth
maintaining
robust
levels
throughout
2023
and
so
far
in
2024.
Economist
estimates
are
for
200,000
jobs
to
have
been
added
in
March,
a
strong
number,
though
down
from
275,000
in
February.
The
unemployment
rate
is
expected
to
hold
steady
at
3.9%.
Bitcoin,
which
had
slipped
as
low
as
$65,000
overnight,
rallied
throughout
much
of
the
U.S.
day,
at
one
point
topping
$69,000.
At
press
time,
the
crypto
was
trading
at
$68,750,
up
4.5%
over
the
past
24
hours.
The
broader
CoinDesk
20
Index
was
ahead
3.25%
over
the
same
period,
with
ether
(ETH)
a
notable
laggard,
up
just
1.75%.