Bitcoin edged higher on Thursday as a sharp rally in the U.S. bond market helped risk assets. A much hotter-than-expected producer inflation report did not stop the move. Most major altcoins followed Bitcoin higher.
Bitcoin ticked up on Thursday and was last up 0.5% to $82,080.5 by 17:40 ET. Risk assets in general got a lift from a sharp rally in the U.S. bond market.
Crypto traders also received a significantly hotter-than-expected U.S. producer inflation report, which landed a day after similarly hot consumer price index data.
Producer prices grow at the fastest pace since March 2022
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, headline producer price index (PPI) rose 1.3% M/M in September, the largest monthly increase in four-and-a-half years. Economists had expected a rise of 0.3%.
On a Y/Y basis, headline PPI climbed 6.3% in September, against an estimate of 5.3%. Core PPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, advanced 0.7% M/M and 5% Y/Y, versus consensus numbers of 0.3% and 4.4%.
Other data pointed the same way. Retail sales ticked up 0.8% M/M in September to $745 billion, and initial jobless claims rose to 199k, matching expectations.
Falling Treasury yields offset the inflation data
Such conditions are typically supportive of a central bank holding rates steady or even tightening monetary policy, and higher rates generally tend to weigh on speculative assets such as cryptocurrencies. Yet the benchmark 10-year yield slumped 12.8 basis points to close at 5.061%, while the 2-year yield slid 4.5 basis points to end at 4.757%.
Bonds have regained their status as a safe-haven asset amid growing concerns around the enormous amount of debt companies are issuing to fund their artificial intelligence infrastructure buildouts.
Altcoins mostly follow Bitcoin higher
Broader crypto prices were largely higher. Ether climbed 1.7% to $2,461.72, while XRP inched up 0.5%.
BNB, Cardano and Solana rose 0.2%, 0.8% and 1.2%, respectively. Among memecoins, Dogecoin slipped 0.3%.
Source: Investing.com
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