By
Steve Muchoki
April 19th, 2024
The rapidly spreading coronavirus appears to have pulled down the global traditional investment markets with Bitcoin joining the fall, giving up its hypothetical store of value status. The current BTC price is around $8,600.
Everything in every market is currently red. As the coronavirus epidemic continues to spread, the stock markets keep crumbling with bitcoin right behind them in a downward spiral. The S&P 500 and the Dow seemed to enter a correction on February 27, representing a 10% plunge from its recent highs.
The Dow lost almost 1,200 points for its worst day, and the index seems poised to close out its worst week since October 2008. Japan has now declared a state of emergency, while Switzerland has banned any types of gatherings with 1,000 people. Officials have warned that the virus has the potential to become a pandemic, although the World Health Organization is yet to label it that way.
The stock futures pointed to more pain on February 28, which might cap off a brutal last week of February with the coronavirus rocking sentiments around the world. The Dow Futures at press time is losing 0.89% at 25,324 points; Nasdaq Futures is losing 1.13% at 8,288 points; S&P 500 futures are losing 1.07% at 2925.25, and crude oil is trading at $45.45 down 3.48%.
On its part, gold is falling by 1.13%, trading at $1624.00 per ounce.
Bitcoin is losing 2.55% in the past 24 hours, hovering around $8,650.
Stock Futures Dwindle
At first, the U.S. equity futures suggested more volatility to come until the end of the week. At the close of Thursday, Dow futures were down 0.3%, S&P futures (ES=F) were down 0.4%, and Nasdaq futures (NQ=F) were down 0.3%. By the end of Thursday, the contracts of the three indices had turned positive.
But, during the Asian session on February 28, the downtrend continued. The financial markets plummeted for the sixth consecutive day on Thursday as coronavirus shaved 1,100 points off the Dow, which is the biggest single-day loss in its history. The S&P 500 went on its fastest-ever correction. S&P Dow Jones’ Howard Silverblatt said in an email:
“Global markets were down $1.83 trillion today, with the U.S. down $1.33 trillion.”
In the last six days, global markets erased a staggering $6 trillion in wealth, with U.S. markets losing $4 trillion. Investors developed cold feet after the first coronavirus case of someone in the United States who did not go to an infected country was reported. The victim also did not interact knowingly with anyone who traveled to these countries.
For now, the California governor announced that the state is monitoring over 8,400 people. These individuals are suspected of having been exposed to this virus. The virus continues to spread rapidly around the world, with over 82,000 cases and more than 2,800 deaths reported. China, Italy, South Korea, and Iran are the hot spots with high death rates.
Experts expect that the virus might spread throughout the world even as China’s new infection rate slows down. All these developments have pulverized the global markets. In the past six days, the S&P 500 dropped by 10% from its all-time high at its fastest losing rate, according to Deutsche Bank Securities.
Bitcoin Is Falling
Anybody who thought that Bitcoin had hit the floor in the latest bearish market must think again. On February 27, the crypto market experienced a severe drop as BTC price threatened to sink below $8,500. Although the Bitcoin price slightly rebounded to the $8,813 level that day, it may prove to be a difficult recovery for the cryptocurrency.
Traders are now getting ready for the possibility of the price plunging further towards $8,000. Currently, Bitcoin is still exploring the massive depth of the rabbit holes, with sellers’ confidence levels quite high. For now, the trend line seems inclined to the south, as the volatility levels are considerably high.
Most of the crypto exchanges and blockchain tech companies have experienced the effect of the potential global epidemic of coronavirus, now known as COVID-19. Most of the employees working at Chinese companies responsible for crypto mining have now been forced to stay at home. Also, others are trapped outside of cities as quarantines get enforced around China.
The key reason for the latest BTC price drop is not known yet. However, it seems that the general crypto market can be quite as fragile as traditional investments. BTC fell to its lowest levels in a month on February 28 after another day filled with losses increased the selling pressure on the markets.
Coin360 data shows that BTC/USD hit five-week lows of $8,455, and currently, volatility has returned on the crypto exchanges. Weekly losses total 12%, but for now, BTC clings around the $8,600 handle.
Bitcoin’s weakness tracked a day of horror for the traditional investment markets as the Dow Jones encountered colossal losses never witnessed in its history. Tormenting sentiment was coronavirus. Although the U.S. government tries to play down its threat, traders are convinced that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates considerably to enhance economic growth this year.
Hovering near $8,600, Bitcoin seems to be still in line with technical expectations. The traditionally accurate stock-to-flow (S2F) price forecasting model predicts an average of $8,606 for BTC/USD as the block reward halving approaches in May 2020.