The crypto market saw higher prices after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said this Wednesday that the U.S. central bank might scale back the pace of its interest rate hikes as soon as December. Immediately after Powell’s comments, Bitcoin (BTC) advanced above $17,000 while the price of Cosmos (ATOM) jumped to $10.63. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell added:
“The time for moderating the pace of rate increases may come as soon as the December meeting even as inflation continues to be far too high.”
The next Federal Reserve meeting is scheduled for December 13, and in the days ahead, investors will continue to observe every piece of data that could influence the Federal Reserve decision. The federal funds rate is now in a range of 3.75% to 4% (the highest level since January 2008), and Fed policymakers will probably raise rates by 50 basis points when they meet in December instead of 75 basis points, which was also a possibility.
Despite this, market participants should keep in mind that the main question still remains how much time Fed will need to hold policy at a restrictive level in order to control inflation. The U.S. economy faces recession risk that could dent corporate earnings, and because of this, the outlook for risk appetite in the near term is not looking good.
The cryptocurrency market also faces a trust crisis as the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange created unprecedented market turmoil that could last for several more months.
Cosmos (ATOM) Technical Analysis
The price of Cosmos (ATOM) has weakened from $15.81 to $8.71 since November 05, and the current price stands at $10.47. Cosmos (ATOM) is showing bullish momentum this trading week, and if the price advances above $11, the next target could be resistance at $12.
The price of this cryptocurrency is usually correlated with Bitcoin, and if the price of Bitcoin jumps above $18000, we could probably see ATOM at a higher price level than the current price. The current support level is $9, and if the price breaks this level, we could see ATOM at $8 or even below.
Conclusion
The crypto market saw modestly higher prices this trading week, which also supports the price of Cosmos (ATOM). Investors’ confidence is rising after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that the U.S. central bank might scale back the pace of its interest rate hikes as soon as December.
