Friday's Markets Update (March 17, 2023)

19 Mar 2023 by rate3

On Friday, we observed traders grappling with conflicting thoughts and actions. Some were focused on the despicable macro-fundamentals, while others were just following technical momentum. This led to a division of players into two groups. One group expressed themselves fully by trading BTC after hours, resulting in a 10% increase in the price tag of BTC, going from 24,998 to 27,395 within 24 hours. The other group, however, remained sober and did not buy into the narrative that BTC is a better parking place for capital during a banking crisis. They were content with dragging NASDAQ down from 11,696 to 11,630 (-0.6%) during the day session.

This sobriety was reflected in the University of Michigan Index, which dropped for the first time in four months to 63.4 in March (compared to a forecast of 67) from 67 in February. However, the February reading was the highest in nearly a year. Overall, all components worsened, mainly due to persistently high prices.