Bitcoin renews maximum after Fed president’s speeches

On Thursday (07), the United States central bank, the Fed, cut the interest rate again. After the announcement, the market stopped to listen to the speech by Jerome Powell, president of the Fed.

One of the points in Powell's speech was precisely the election, when someone asked if he would resign from his position with Trump's election. Powell denied this and said he would fulfill his mandate, which was seen as a reassuring speech. In fact, risk assets rose sharply after Powell's speeches.

The biggest highlight was Bitcoin (BTC), reaching a new historic high when it reached US$76,990. There was a slight retreat shortly afterwards, but the price of BTC still remains above US$76,000.

Meanwhile, US stock indexes also peaked, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq gaining 0.8% and 1.5%, respectively. Now, the market expects there to be a new interest rate cut at the December meeting, which could bring new increases towards the end of the year.

Bitcoin renews high after cuts

The Fed cut interest rates by 25 basis points, bringing them to a range between 4.5% and 4.75%. The measure was in line with market expectations and was a smaller cut than the 50 basis points of the last meeting.

However, even with this cut, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, in his speech, noted that monetary policy remained “restrictive.” In other words, he emphasized that the objective is to prevent inflation from rising again.

Powell acknowledged that the US economy is still experiencing solid economic expansion, which is putting pressure on prices. According to government data, the country's GDP gained 2.8% in the second quarter and consumer confidence remains high.

The only data that worried the market was employment, which came in below expectations. But Powell stressed that this does not mean a recession, but rather the transitory impact of strikes and hurricanes.

Following Powell's comments, market odds of a rate cut in December rose to 75%. US Treasury yields fell, with the 10-year ten yield coming in at 4.33%, and the US dollar was 0.7% weaker. Gold rose 1.8%, and Bitcoin jumped 1% to reach an all-time high of $76,990.

Conclusions

During his speech, the Fed chairman highlighted several important economic factors driving the US job market. Although unemployment has fallen moderately over the past three months and remains low, labor market conditions are tighter than before the pandemic.

According to Powell, this factor continues to place downward pressure on inflation in the labor markets. Therefore, the Fed sees a scenario for further interest cuts.

Now, inflation is much closer to the Fed's target, and Powell has made clear he is committed to economic stability. However, he also hinted that rate cuts would be slower if inflation remained high but unemployment also rose.

The Federal Reserve meeting showed that economic data has been stronger lately than expected, including a recent inflation report and a jobs report that came in weaker than expected, showing areas of caution.