Crypto Turns Broadly Lower in U.S. Afternoon Trade as Stocks Give Away Gains

The
price
of
bitcoin

(BTC)
has
tumbled
after
rallying
earlier
Wednesday
as
U.S.
stocks
gave
up
a
sizable
early
advance
to
turn
lower
in
U.S.
mid-afternoon
action.

Bitcoin

(BTC)
at
press
time
was
trading
at
$54,800,
down
just
shy
of
4%
from
24
hours
ago
and
more
than
6%
from
the
$57,600
level
touched
a
few
hours
earlier.
Ether

(ETH)
is
faring
worse
at
$2,322,
lower
by
7.1%
over
the
last
day
and
sending
its
ratio
against
bitcoin
to
the

lowest
level
in
more
than
three
years.
The
broader

CoinDesk
20
Index
is
down
3%.

Trading
got
off
to
a
good
start
Wednesday
after
Bank
of
Japan
Deputy
Governor
Shinichi
Uchida,
said
that

the
central
bank
wouldn’t
hike
borrowing
costs
when
markets
are
unstable.
The
dovish
comments
sent
the
yen
lower
and
the
Japanese
stock
market
and
U.S.
index
futures
nicely
higher.
While
the
Nikkei
managed
to
close
higher
by
1.2%
and
U.S.
stocks
opened
with
gains
of
around
1.5%,
the
bullishness
has
faded
throughout
the
course
of
the
day.

Roughly
ninety
minutes
before
the
close
of
trade,
the
Nasdaq
is
down
0.8%
and
the
S&P
500
off
0.6%.

Speaking
with
CNBC
Wednesday,
JPMorgan
CEO
didn’t
sound
so
sure
that
the
U.S.
Federal
Reserve
would
be
successful
in
returning
inflation
to
its
2%
target.
Worrying
him
on
inflation
are
things
like
deficit
spending,
“remilitarization,”
and
the
green
economy
shift.
Of
what
appears
to
be
an
imminent
Fed
rate
cut,
Dimon
says
it’s
likely
coming,
but
he
doesn’t
expect
it
to
have
much
effect.

Meanwhile,
former
Federal
Bank
of
New
York
President
Bill
Dudley
suggests
the
Fed
needs
to
cut
rates
soon
and
in
a
sizable
fashion.

“Evidence
of
a
weakening
labor
market
and
moderating
inflation
has
accumulated
rapidly,
strongly
suggesting
that
the
Fed
is
behind
the
curve,”

wrote
Dudley
this
afternoon
on
Bloomberg.
He
noted
that
the
recent
fast
rise
in
the
unemployment
rate
has
breached
the
“Sahm
rule”
threshold
(named
after
economist
Claudia
Sahm),
thus
indicating
far
higher
unemployment
and
a
U.S.
recession
in
on
the
way.

“Monetary
policy
is
tight
and
becoming
tighter
as
price
and
wage
inflation
moderate,”
continued
Dudley.
He
argues
that
just
getting
to
a
neutral
fed
funds
rate
would
require
at
least
150
basis
points
in
rate
cuts
and
if
the
Fed
needs
to
get
into
the
accommodative
range,
another
100
basis
points
in
cuts
on
top
of
that
might
be
necessary.

“Prepare
for
more
volatility
in
stock
and
bond
markets,”
concluded
Dudley,
who
expects
Fed
Chair
Jerome
Powell’s
“deliberative
manner”
to
prevent
any
quick
easing
moves.