Crypto Market Daily Highlights – ETH Leads a NASDAQ-Fueled Top Ten

Key Insights:

• It is a bullish Thursday for the crypto top ten, with ETH leading the way.
• Geopolitics and economic recession fears took a back seat, with US economic indicators supporting a December Fed pivot and the NASDAQ Composite Index.
• The crypto market cap is up $16.9 billion to $813.1 billion, with 120 minutes (UTC) remaining.

It is a bullish Thursday session for the crypto top ten. ETH leads the way, with BTC on target to wrap up the day at $17,000 for the fifth time in nine sessions.

While on the light side, the US economic calendar delivered much-needed crypto market support.

In the week ending December 2, initial jobless claims increased from 226k to 230k, with continuing jobless claims up from 1,609k to 1,671k. Following the November US Jobs Report, the latest jobless claims supported Fed Chair Powell’s talk about easing the pace of interest rate hikes.

In response, bets of a December Fed pivot picked up, with the probability of a 75-basis point rate hike falling from 21.8% to 20.6%. One month ago, the chances of a 75-basis point rate hike stood at 43.2%.

The NASDAQ Composite Index and the S&P500 responded to the latest numbers, rising by 1.13% and 0.75%, respectively. Significantly, the numbers allowed investors to shift focus away from the global economy and fears of an economic recession.

Ahead of the jobless claims figures, ECB President Lagarde talked about cryptos and systemic risk. Lagarde noted that the introduction of MICA could be two years away. The comments delivered crypto market support.

Today, the US economic calendar will provide further direction. US wholesale inflation and consumer sentiment figures will influence. Higher-than-expected wholesale inflation figures could refuel bets of another 75-basis point interest rate hike on Wednesday.

However, consumer sentiment will need to improve to support the Fed hawks.

With the busy US economic calendar, we expect the crypto market to continue tracking the NASDAQ Composite Index, barring a material crypto event.

Crypto Market Tracks the NASDAQ Composite Index into the Green

On Thursday, the crypto market cap fell to a late morning low of $791.2 billion before finding support. Comments from ECB President Lagarde and US economic indicators fueled a bullish afternoon session. The crypto market cap rallied to a late high of $818.9 billion before easing back.

Despite easing back from the day high, the crypto market cap was up by $16.9 billion to $813.1 billion with 120 minutes (UTC) remaining.

The Crypto Market Movers and Shakers from the Top Ten and Beyond

It is a bullish Thursday session for the crypto top ten, with 120 minutes (UTC) remaining.

ETH leads the way, rallying 3.85%, with MATIC (+2.95%) and XRP (+2.57%) close behind.

ADA (+1.29%), BNB (+1.94%), BTC (+2.13%), and DOGE (+2.30%) trailed the front runners.

From the CoinMarketCap top 100, it is a bullish session.

Trust wallet token (TWT) and bitcoin SV (BSV) lead the way, with gains of 7.74% and 6.71%, respectively. THORchain (RUNE) is also among the front-runners, rising by 3.75%.

However, axie infinity (AXS), toncoin (TON), and synthetix (SNX) bucked the broader market trend. AXS is down by 3.27%, with TON and SNX seeing losses of 0.63% and 0.84%, respectively.

24-Hour Liquidations Slide in Bullish Crypto Session

Over 24 hours, liquidations fell back in response to the bullish Thursday session, hovering below-normal levels.

At the time of writing, 24-hour liquidations stood at $40.01 million versus $68.28 million Thursday morning.

Liquidated traders over the last 24 hours also decreased. At the time of writing, liquidated traders stood at 15,170 versus 27,343 on Thursday morning. However, liquidations were up over 12 and four hours and one hour, driven by the bullish afternoon session.

According to Coinglass, 12-hour liquidations rose from $7.40 million to $32.26 million, with four-hour liquidations up from $2.17 million to $22.97 million. One-hour liquidations increased from $0.227 million to $0.996 million.

The chart below shows market conditions throughout the session.