Bitcoin holds above $67,000 as stocks gain ahead of Fed Capitol Hill testimony

Bitcoin BTC +1.61% has gained ground alongside Wall Street in midday trading, ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's concluding testimony on U.S. monetary policy before the Senate Banking Committee.

The largest digital asset by market capitalization held above the $67,000 mark, increasing by around 1% in the past 24 hours and was changing hands for $67,199 at 11:30 a.m. ET, according to The Block's Price Page.

The price of bitcoin has traded flat over the past 24 hours. Image: The Block.

U.S. indices climbed on Thursday, with major equities erased losses from earlier in the week. The S&P 500 increased by 0.88% over the past 24 hours, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 0.41%, and the Nasdaq Composite saw a gain of 1.38% in the same timeframe, according to TradingView data.

"One factor providing support for risk assets has been Fed officials like Christopher Waller and Jerome Powell affirming that the Fed is still on path to cut rates this year. Also, the U.S. dollar has been trickling lower on this, with even gold broking all-time highs," QCP Capital analysts said in a market report on Thursday. On Wednesday, Powell had told the U.S House Financial Services Committee that he expects interest rate cuts later this year, but did not specify when. 

On Thursday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell is testifying again on Capitol Hill about interest-rate policy. A rate cut move by the U.S. central bank all depends on cooling inflation data over the next few months, according to an analyst.

"The Fed just needs a few more months of similar inflation data as prior months to start cutting rates this year. They stuck to three rate cuts as a consensus, but the Fed funds futures market now has four rate cuts priced in by December 2024," Nansen Principle Research Analyst Aurelie Barthere told The Block. According to the CME FedWatch tool, there is a 97% chance that the Fed funds rate will remain at its current target range of 5.25%–5.50% this month. However, interest rate traders' forecasts for the June Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting indicate a 56.9% probability of a rate cut in that month.

The GM 30 Index, representing a selection of the top 30 cryptocurrencies, has increased by 2.85% to 147.78 in the past 24 hours.

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