Stocks waver as traders fixate over inflation, bitcoin stuck around 30k

US stocks are wavering as surging oil prices and widespread inflation have many traders worried that the Fed may maintain its current tightening pace beyond the summer and that could trigger a much sooner economic growth deterioration. The US economy is not going to have an imminent economic slowdown, but fears are growing that if inflation doesn’t peak until the fall, Wall Street may have underpriced how much tightening the Fed will have to do. ​

Stocks will remain choppy until Friday’s inflation report, but if oil prices continue to surge, that could be reason enough for investors to brace for pricing pressures to remain elevated. ​ ​ ​ ​

Bitcoin stuck around 30k

Bitcoin maintains its high correlation with equities. ​ The focus on inflation continues to drive the incremental moves for Bitcoin, but it still remains stuck around the USD 30,000 level. ​ Cryptos are expected to see clarity with regulation that should provide guidance on taxes over small transactions and how tokens will be regulated. ​

Bitcoin still could form one last major low and that is preventing a lot of money from buying around the USD 30,000 area. ​ Macro conditions won’t improve anytime soon, so bitcoin might have an extended choppy trading period. ​

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Ed Moya

Ed Moya

Contributing Author at OANDA
With more than 20 years’ trading experience, Ed Moya was a Senior Market Analyst with OANDA for the Americas from November 2018 to November 2023. His particular expertise lies across a wide range of asset classes including FX, commodities, fixed income, stocks and cryptocurrencies. Over the course of his career, Ed has worked with some of the leading forex brokerages, research teams and news departments on Wall Street including Global Forex Trading, FX Solutions and Trading Advantage. Prior to OANDA he worked with TradeTheNews.com, where he provided market analysis on economic data and corporate news. Based in New York, Ed is a regular guest on several major financial television networks including CNBC, Bloomberg TV, Yahoo! Finance Live, Fox Business, cheddar news, and CoinDesk TV. His views are trusted by the world’s most respected global newswires including Reuters, Bloomberg and the Associated Press, and he is regularly quoted in leading publications such as MSN, MarketWatch, Forbes, Seeking Alpha, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Ed holds a BA in Economics from Rutgers University.