Gold and bitcoin broke their records on Tuesday, the yellow metal, a safe haven competing with the dollar, taking advantage of the prospects of rate cuts from the Federal Reserve, and the cryptocurrency benefiting from the breath of fresh air generated by a new product investment.
Around 5:15 p.m. GMT (12:15 p.m. EST), bitcoin fell sharply by 4.74% to $64,285, after hitting a new high of $69,191.94.
The digital token thus crosses its previous historic peak of November 2021, where it reached $68,991.
The cryptocurrency remained in an “expansion phase” propelled by the arrival on the American market in January of a new investment product which is following its course: by allowing “institutional investors to access bitcoin for the first time , demand has exploded,” notes Mr. Harte.
This investment fund (ETF) indexed on bitcoin allows a larger part of the public to invest in these cryptoassets without holding them directly.
The analyst also notes the context of an upcoming event in April, the “halving”, a technical phenomenon which consists of the division by two of the reward granted to the “miners” of bitcoins — those that help create the blockchain by validating transactions.
By reducing the quantity of bitcoins available for purchase, this phenomenon should increase the value of the digital token.
Even if “the pace of progression of the metal is perhaps less spectacular” than that of bitcoin, the progression of gold remained regular, until this new high, reacted Russ Mould, analyst at AJ Bell.
An ounce of gold rose 0.65% to $2,128.20, after hitting $2,141.79 per ounce.
The yellow metal thus exceeds its previous high of early December, when it reached 2,135.39 dollars per ounce.
“The publication of gloomy economic figures in the United States”, which portend a decline in real interest rates, just as “current geopolitical tensions” explain this recent surge in gold, notes Christophe Giraudon, analyst at Comptoir gold.
Activity in the services sector in the United States slowed a little more than expected in February, due in particular to a deterioration on the employment front, according to the monthly survey published Tuesday by the professional federation ISM .
The index measuring this activity fell to 52.6%, compared to 53.4% in January, and below analysts’ expectations.
At the end of last week, several American indices had already shown a decline, such as the ISM index of activity in the manufacturing sector in the United States, American consumer confidence in February and construction spending in January in the United States. .
These less optimistic prospects reinforce expectations that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will soon lower its rates in order to support its economy.
Lower interest rates make the dollar less profitable, and thus benefit gold, a competing safe haven.
The dollar thus fell against the pound, which gained 0.17% to 1.2714 dollars, and fell slightly against the euro, which gained 0.05% to 1.0861 dollars.