Bitcoin and Ether rose during Asian trading hours on Thursday, along with all of the top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. Ether rose the most, following the successful completion of the Shapella upgrade, despite initial market concerns over sell pressure caused by the enabling of staking withdrawals. Asian equity markets closed mixed despite Wall Street’s overnight rally, as investors digested cooler-than-expected U.S. inflation data. The U.S. dollar continued its decline, while the euro and gold values strengthened.
See related article: Crypto firms hardpressed to find U.S. bank partners as industry blames ‘Operation Choke Point 2.0’
Fast facts
- Bitcoin rose 0.33% to US$30,100 in the 24 hours to 4:30 p.m. in Hong Kong. The world’s first cryptocurrency strengthened by 7.87% during the week, after the network exceeded 1 million Ordinals inscriptions earlier this week.
- Ether rose 3.02% as the biggest gainer of the day, to trade at US$1,927 while rising 2.73% during the week. It remained firmly above the US$1,900 mark after the successful completion of the Shanghai upgrade, despite initial market concerns that the enabling of staking withdrawals will create significant sell pressure.
- Cardano’s ADA, the day’s second-biggest winner, rose 2.3% to US$0.40 and gained 5.11% on the week.
- The global cryptocurrency market capitalization increased by 0.81% to US$1.23 trillion in the 24 hours to 4:30 p.m. in Hong Kong, while total crypto market trading volume increased by 10.13% to US$45.29 billion.
- The Forkast 500 NFT index inched up 0.03% to 3,980.79 points during the day and slid 0.53% during the week. The index is a proxy measure of the performance of the global NFT market and includes 500 eligible smart contracts on any given day.
- Asian equities were mixed following a 0.41% drop in the S&P 500, despite cooler-than-expected U.S. inflation data, showing that inflation rose 5% on the year in March, but declined from 6% in February, representing the smallest increase since May 2021. Despite persistent inflation, investors are increasingly optimistic that the Federal Reserve’s tightening cycle will end after May’s interest rate hike.
- Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.26%, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.27%, the Shenzhen Component lost 1.21% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended the day 0.17% higher.
- European bourses strengthened to a one-month high on Thursday, as the pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.23% to 463 points and Germany’s DAX 40 inched up 0.25% to 15,742 points. France’s benchmark CAC 40 rose 0.93% to an all-time high of 7.466 points.
- Shares of LVMH, the world’s largest luxury brand, rose 4.54% during the day to a new all-time high of €875, after reporting a 17% rise in Q1 sales, doubling analyst expectations.
- The U.S. dollar fell 0.24% to 101.5, trading close to its lowest levels since early February, while the euro gained 0.33% to stabilize above US$1.10.
- Gold strengthened 0.67% to US$2,028 per ounce, trading close to a one-year high, as growing fears of a recession continued bolstering demand for the precious metal.
See related article: Ethereum stands firm as Shapella upgrade rolls out
