Markets Rally As Weak U.S Jobs Data Spurs Rate Cut Hopes

Crypto markets turned higher on Thursday after the latest U.S. unemployment figures continued to signal that the world’s largest economy might be slowing down, boosting investors’ hopes for rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.

Weekly jobless claims hit an 8-month high of 231,000, well above the consensus estimate of 212,000. The report comes a week after monthly payroll data showed the U.S. economy added the fewest jobs in six months in April.

Bitcoin and Ether rallied 3% to $63,000 and $3,050, respectively. Total crypto market capitalization rose 2% to $2.44 trillion.

Today’s top performers include Solana (SOL), which surged 8%, and Telegram-linked TON, which flipped Dogecoin to become the 9th largest cryptocurrency after gaining 11% in the past 24 hours. Decentralized cloud computing provider Akash Network (AKT) led the top 100 digital assets with a 14% gain on the day.

Evidence of a cooling economy fuels speculation the Fed will ease monetary policy, which generally boosts risk assets. Stocks rallied to their highest level since April 9, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average posting its seventh consecutive daily gain and the S&P 500 closing above 5,200, within 1% of its all-time high.