Markets: Bitcoin, Ether prices rise as crypto stages rebound

Bitcoin and Ether rebounded in Thursday morning trading in Asia amid broad gains in the top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies after a bout of profit-taking and mixed economic indicators sent prices lower on Wednesday. Solana, Polygon and Cardano led gains among the top 10 by market capitalization. U.S. equities were mixed overnight. Tesla beat earnings forecasts but the poor outlook from Microsoft on Wednesday and an interest rate hike expected next week kept a lid on trading.

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Fast facts

• Bitcoin rose 2% to US$23,096 in the 24 hours to 8 a.m. in Hong Kong. The world’s biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has risen 11.66% in the seven days to date and resumed a strong run up since the start of the year after hitting a speed bump on Wednesday. Ether added 3.43% to US$1,610, up 6.36% in the same week, according to CoinMarketCap data.
• Solana jumped 7.78% to US$24.56 to post a week-to-date growth of 17.9%. Solana recently opened pre-orders for its blockchain-focused mobile phone Solana Saga, which is expected to launch as early as Q1 this year. 
• Polygon added 3.85% to US$0.99 after the Fractal NFT gaming site on Wednesday said it was expanding onto the Polygon network. Cardano rose by 3.91% to US$0.37.
• The total crypto market capitalization grew 2.72% to US$1.05 trillion, while trading volume saw a 12% increase to US$61.86 billion.
• U.S. equity markets had a mixed day on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.03%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite both dipped almost 0.2%.
• More economic indicators are out on Thursday in the U.S., including GDP, durable goods orders and jobless claims, which could provide direction to equities through the end of the week.
• Members of the U.S. Federal Reserve are in a so-called blackout period before they meet next week – Jan. 31 to Feb. 1 – to decide the next move on interest rates. Analysts from CME Group predict a 99.8% chance of an increase of 25 basis points.
• Last month, the Fed raised interest rates by 50-basis points to between 4.25% and 4.5%, the highest in 15 years, to try and slow the pace of inflation and a number of indicators suggest that slowdown is happening. However, some investors remain concerned about the U.S. economy, the world’s biggest, tipping into a recession.

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