Bitcoin, Ether, Forkast 500 NFT index rise; gold nears year-high over banking sector concerns
Bitcoin and Ether rose during Asian trading hours on Friday, along with most of the top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, with Litecoin posting the biggest gains. Most Asian equities declined, after Hong Kong’s central bank warned of a potential spillover from the U.S. banking crisis. Concerns over the health of the banking system also bolstered gold prices to near a year-high.
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Fast facts
- Bitcoin rose 1.92% to US$28,195 in the 24 hours to 4:30 p.m. in Hong Kong. Ether gained 3.16% to change hands at US$1,809, according to CoinMarketCap data.
- Most of the top 10 cryptos also rallied on the day, with Litecoin rising 6.95% to US$93.88 as the day’s biggest gainer, followed by Ether. XRP fell 4.42% to US$0.43, as the day’s biggest loser.
- The global cryptocurrency market capitalization increased by 1.7% to US$1.18 trillion in the 24 hours to 4:30 p.m. in Hong Kong, with total crypto market trading volume down by 19.6% to US$54.47 billion.
- The Forkast 500 NFT index rose 0.44% on the day to 4,124.20 points, and inched up 0.7% on the week.
- Most Asian equities weakened on Friday, despite Wall Street’s overnight uptrend, reflecting investor caution after the Hong Kong central bank warned of further spillover effects from U.S. regional banks.
- The Shanghai Composite slid 0.64% while the Shenzhen Component Index gained 0.25%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.13% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended the day 0.67% lower.
- European bourses fell on Friday in light of lingering concerns over the health of the banking sector and the possibility of further monetary tightening. The Stoxx 600 fell 1.06% and the DAX 40 lost 1.43%.
- The European banking index lost 1% on the day. UBS Group’s stock (UBSG) fell 5.28% while shares of Credit Suisse (CSGN) declined 5.82%, following reports that the U.S. Justice Department is probing the banks to determine if they helped Russian oligarchs evade sanctions.
- Gold slid 0.15% to US$1,990 an ounce, close to a one-year high, as investors were concerned over the health of the banking system and continued to digest the impact of the Federal Reserve’s widely-expected 25 basis points rate hike.
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