- Bitcoin price fell slightly to retest support near $23,250 on Friday.
- The top cryptocurrency’s price action mirrored early trades on Wall Street as the market reacted to US economic data.
- The US added 517,000 jobs, against an estimated 188,000 and unemployment fell to 53-year low of 3.4%.
Bitcoin responded to Friday’s US jobs report by swinging nearly 2% lower to trade around $23,250 early morning. CoinGecko data shows the BTCUSD pair touched highs of $24,086 in the past 24 hours.
Across crypto, Ethereum slipped towards $1,600 with about 1.4% in losses.
Bitcoin and stocks react to US jobs data
As noted, early action across cryptocurrency prices mirrored the opening on Wall Street, where the three major US indices swung lower after the January jobs report showed a higher-than-expected rise in nonfarm payroll.
Data released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed the labour market added 517,000 jobs in the first month of 2023. The statistic indicated an unexpected growth, exceeding the 188,000 estimated by economists.
The US economy added far more jobs in January than the 223,000 managed in December, with the unemployment rate falling to its lowest level in over half a century. Per the data, unemployment is now down to 3.4%, the lowest level for the US since 1969. Economists expected the unemployment rate at 3.5%
The market’s reaction to the economic data, together with sentiment around disappointing earnings results from across Big Tech, fueled an early sell-off on Wall Street. It’s also likely down to nervousness over what this means for the Fed’s inflation outlook.
The S&P 500 fell nearly 1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 100 points before regaining some footing. The Nasdaq Composite, impacted by a decline across tech stocks, shed more than 1.3% in early trading.
The major indices are trying to recoup the early losses, as is Bitcoin that is trading near $23,500 as of 10.25 am ET. If bulls regain the upside momentum, BTC is likely to retest its intraday highs just above $24,000.
