Markets: Bitcoin, Ether up; XRP biggest loser among top 10

Bitcoin and Ether prices gained on Friday morning in Asia, while other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies by market capitalization were mixed. XRP led losses with 3.87%, followed by Cardano.

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Fast facts

• Bitcoin rose 0.53% to US$16,641 in the last 24 hours to 8 a.m. in Hong Kong. Ether added 0.91% to trade at US$1,201, according to CoinMarketCap data.
• The global cryptocurrency market capitalization increased by 0.41% to US$798.22 billion. The total crypto market trading volume fell 12.33% to US$27.08 billion over the last day.
• XRP had the biggest loss among the top 10 cryptocurrencies, falling 3.87% to US$0.3425. Cardano trailed with 1.78% to trade at US$0.244.
• Solana, which has been trading below the US$10 mark this week for the first time since February of 2021, dropped 1.7% to US$9.59.
• U.S. equities finished higher on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.05% and the S&P 500 Index added 1.75%. The Nasdaq Composite closed 2.59% higher than the previous day. 
• Weekly unemployment claims in the U.S., an indicator for job cuts, rose slightly by 9,000 to 225,000 last week despite the Federal Reserve’s aggressive attempts to cool inflation, the U.S. Department of Labor reported on Thursday. The four-week average aid applications dropped by just 250 to 221,000. Recession fears have been rising with the Fed’s series of interest rate hikes in 2022, and a spike in layoffs can be an early warning of a recession.