Market Snapshot – Cryptos Feeling the Heat, US Inflation Rises as Expected

Cryptos Under Pressure

The crypto markets are on their toes as the prices are clearly under pressure over the last few days. First, it was news about the Japanese regulator looking to shut down the errant exchanges. Next it was the turn of the SEC to threaten the ICOs and exchanges which hosted the ICOs when they said that most of the ICOs were functioning without the requisite permissions and regulations. We are seeing the ETH market bearing the brunt of the fall so far and this is pushing the ETH prices below the $700 region as of this writing. We expect this pressure to continue on the crypto markets for now as we await further developments, those that would help the traders and the investors to regain confidence in the markets once again. This is unlikely to happen in the short term as the BTC prices also clearly trade below the $10000 region and this is likely to continue to last. Ripple has also been facing its own set of challenges as it loses a court case and this has only added to the confusion and the uncertainty in the markets.

US Inflation Data as Per Expectations

On the other markets, the US inflation data has come in and it has come as per expectations which has helped to keep the dollar buoyant. It had been slightly on the backfoot over the past couple of days, mainly due to the fact that the wages data came in weak at the end of the last week. But the fact that the inflation data has come in as per expectations has ensured that the data trend is pointing upwards  once again, which increases the chances that the Fed might be inclined to consider 4 rate hikes during the course of this year, which would then be hawkish and supportive of the dollar.