(+) Stocks Rise on Jobs Friday as the Cryptocurrency-Boom Continues

Friday Market Recap

The rebound in US economic numbers continued today, as the employment report showed strong gains in the number of jobs, while the Unemployment Rate ticked lower to 4.4%, and wages grew in line with expectations. The major US indices pushed slightly higher after the release, although they still underperform European and Japanese equities. The DAX hit another all-time high this morning and the Euro STOXX 50 also rose to its maximum since 2007. On an interesting note, even the NASDAQ is lagging its European peers, trading a bit below its all-time highs.

Currencies are little changed today, despite the usually volatile Jobs Friday, as the release didn’t change interest rate expectations substantially.  The Great British Pound is near its multi-month highs against the USD following a week of strong economic numbers in both countries. The EUR/USD pair is also edging towards 1.10 while the Yen remains under pressure across the board although the momentum of the decline is waning. Industrial commodities are still sold, as the fears regarding China persist, and gold is also near its two-month lows, with safe haven demand still being low.

Commodities Severely Lagging Stocks, 4-Hour Chart Analysis (NASDAQ Comparison)

Cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrencies are at it again with explosive gains for several coins, especially Ripple and NEM, which are up by 40% and 30% respectively. Bitcoin spiked lower yesterday, but it recovered well today, although it remains slightly below its highs from yesterday. Ethereum breached the $100 level for the first time, as the second largest cryptocurrency is getting close to $10 billion in capitalization. Litecoin is also up by more than 20% again, while Monero blew through the $30 level, while Dash also hit $100, despite lagging the other majors again.

Litecoin, 4-Hour Chart Analysis

Technical Picture

The NASDAQ lost its position as the leading global index this week, as the main European markets outperformed the technology-heavy US benchmark. The technical position is still bullish, although the momentum-divergence in the MACD indicator led to a short-term correction in the index. The benchmark might be ready for a deeper pull-back, as the broader indices failed to follow the NASDAQ higher this week, following the surge to new highs after the first round of the French election. The short-term levels to watch are near 5570 and 5530.

NASDAQ 100 Futures, 4-Hour Chart Analysis

Key Economic Releases on Friday

Key Economic Releases on Monday