China’s “Two Sessions” policy meetings kick off on Monday with the microscope on the struggling economy and housing market.

Hopes have been mounting for stimulus since this time last year but piecemeal offerings have repeatedly disappointed the market. If there are no announcements this week, expect to see Chinese equities and risk trades tied to global growth slump late in the week.

Key announcements will include targets for GDP, employment and inflation. Those are set to be released on Thursday by Premier Li Qiang, who appears to be the leading figure who is pushing for more measures.

The consensus is that China will continue to aim for ‘around 5%’ GDP growth this year. If it’s above 5%, it could show some determination to boost growth, though that’s unlikely. Inflation is likely to be set at 3% again this year despite the undershoot in 2023.

In terms of properties, the market will be watching to see if Li leaves out a line that “houses are for living in, not for speculation.”

Finally, the deficit target was 3% last year but it was later raised to 3.8%. Anything bigger than 3% would be stimulative.

The pseudonymous leader of the Shiba Inu team known on social media as Shytoshi Kusama has taken to the Twitter/X network to address the SHIB army with an encouraging tweet.

Major developer Kaal Dhairya has done likewise. These enthusiasm-provoking tweets come as the SHIB meme coin has printed an astounding surge of 38.87% today.

Kusama and Dhairya address SHIB army

Both Kusama and Dhairya have published an animated GIF to send the SHIB community an encouraging call — “LFG!” (a popular acronym on Twitter/X meaning “let’s freaking go”).

These tweets were published as the second-largest meme cryptocurrency by market cap, SHIB, has skyrocketed by a staggering 38% today. A slight rebound followed that rise, but SHIB remains above the $0.00002 level, changing hands at $0.00002153 at the time of this writing.

The increase printed by this popular meme crypto over the last 24 hours is mind-blowing — 71.53%. Over the past week, SHIB established massive growth of 125.51%. SHIB has been following the recent Bitcoin rise as the world’s leading cryptocurrency skyrocketed to top the $64,000 level earlier this week amid the increasing BTC purchases made by spot Bitcoin ETF providers.

Shibarium reaches massive milestone

According to data provided by the Shibariumscan explorer, the Layer-2 network built by the SHIB team on Ethereum has reached a massive utility milestone. Its overall transaction count has surpassed the 390 million level, now sitting at 390,852,737.

As for the daily transaction level, it continues to move in the 2.5 million range, occasionally rising and falling. This is a 2x decline since Feb. 20 and 22, when this metric reached a peak of 4.21 million and 3.93 million daily transfers.

SHIB ETF petition keeps gathering votes

Earlier this week, the SHIB community set up a petition on the change.org platform urging Grayscale to launch a Shiba Inu-based exchange-traded fund. Within the past week, this document has gathered 3,120 votes, leading it to the first goal of 5,000 votes.

Grayscale is one of the companies that have launched a Bitcoin ETF recently. Grayscale has finally managed to convert its Bitcoin Trust into a spot BTC fund that tracks down the Bitcoin price and allows investors to profit from its movements.

Most coins are back in the green zone, according to CoinMarketCap.

DOGE/USD

The price of DOGE has increased by 2.51% since yesterday. Over the last week, the price has risen by 62.46%.

On the daily chart, the rate of DOGE is near the resistance level of $0.1455. If the bar closes above it, the midterm rise may continue to the $0.16 zone the upcoming week.

DOGE is trading at $0.1396 at press time.

SHIB/USD

SHIB is not an exception, going up by 6.67%.

Despite today’s rise, the rate of SHIB is looking worse than DOGE as the bar is far from the resistance. The volume has declined, which means that the meme coin needs to accumulate energy for a further move.

In this case, consolidation in the area of $0.000020-$0.000023 is the more likely scenario for the next days.

SHIB is trading at $0.0000213 at press time.

Peter Schiff, a notable critic of cryptocurrencies, has called out CNBC for its intense focus on Bitcoin and the newly launched Bitcoin ETFs, at the expense of covering significant movements in the gold market. 

According to Schiff, CNBC’s coverage overlooked a noteworthy $43 increase in gold prices and the record-high price of the gold ETF, GLD. 

This, Schiff argues, is indicative of a broader issue within mainstream financial reporting. 

Gold’s recent rally 

Gold prices surged to a two-month high, climbing nearly 1.5% as U.S. factory data underwhelmed and consumer sentiment dipped, fuelling speculation of impending interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. 

The spot price of gold reached $2,075.03 per ounce, inching closer to the record high set in December 2023. 

This rally was bolstered by expectations that the Federal Reserve might lower borrowing costs to support the economy, as Treasury yields fell, marking gold’s most significant intraday increase since mid-January.

Schiff’s bullish outlook on gold

Schiff’s recent posts on the X social media network further emphasize the bullish signs for gold, pointing out that the new record-high price of the GLD ETF occurred despite nine consecutive weeks of outflows, suggesting a shift from “dumb money” to “smart money.” 

Schiff also called attention to the discrepancy between the strong fundamentals for gold and the weak sentiment towards gold mining stocks, which is exemplified by the world’s largest gold mining company, NEM, hitting a 5-year low just as gold prices soared. 

Schiff interprets these dynamics as clear indicators of gold’s enduring value and potential for growth. 

As reported by U.Today, Schiff recently dismissed the ongoing Bitcoin rally, predicting a swift crash. 

No Bitcoin (BTC) cycle has reached its peak without undergoing double-digit corrections, as pseudonymous trader @CryptoJelleNL has noted. All of them were spicy buy opportunities, but their patterns are changing cycle by cycle.

Bitcoin (BTC) dropping by 20-25% would open “buy-the-dip” opportunity

Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency, might see at least one double-digit correcton on its way to a new price high. Once it drops by 20-25%, an opportunity window opens for BTC bulls, as explained by a seasoned crypto investor who goes by @CryptoJelleNL on X.

Such corrections are registered every cycle. However, as the market is getting more and more mature, the dropdowns become smaller. 

To provide context, in the 2016-2017 cycle, BTC went through seven corrections that were very painful. They erased 30-45% of the Bitcoin (BTC) price each, with 32% as the average pullback.

The next cycle that pushed BTC toward its current all-time high (ATH) mark was far more forgiving for bulls: with five dropdowns, the average loss only reached 24%.

This cycle has only seen four major corrections so far, with an average pullback of 21%. As such, traders should be ready for at least one ugly red candle, data shows.

Bitcoin’s (BTC) local high 10% lower than 2021 ATH

Should @CryptoJelleNL calculations be valid, the $46,000-$47,000 zone is the best one for Bitcoiners interested in “buy-the-dip” opportunities.

By press time, Bitcoin (BTC) is changing hands at $61,683 on major spot exchanges. In the last week, it added over 20% and peaked one step away from $64,000.

This mark is less than 10% below its all-time high registered on Nov. 10, 2021, at about $69,000.

Whale Alert, the popular cryptocurrency tracker, which follows large crypto transactions and shares their details with the community, has noticed three hefty SOL transfers made over the past hour.

Aside from that, two big SOL chunks exchanged hands without any trading venues involved. This has coincided with a Solana price increase.

Almost $163 million in Solana on the move

The aforementioned data source detected five large Solana transfers, each carrying tens of millions of US dollars in the SOL equivalent. The largest ones carried 449,724 SOL (valued at $60,008,944) and 436,720 SOL (the equivalent of $57,677,853). These two SOL chunks were moved between anonymous cryptocurrency wallets.

Two more transfers, which contained 167,189 SOL (worth $22,241,902) and 93,446 SOL (evaluated at $12,322,070), were deposited to the largest US-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase.

Finally, 81,173 SOL worth $10,819,672 was withdrawn from the same crypto trading platform. Overall, almost $163 million worth of Solana has been moved within a single hour.

Solana market performance

From Monday this week until today, SOL has put up a staggering 36.74% increase, following the tremendous rise of the flagship cryptocurrency Bitcoin this week. Having surged from $100.76 to the $137.78 price mark, SOL demonstrated a volatile behavior today, first dropping by 4.22% and then rising and falling once again. The overall decline today comprises 4.77%.

In the meantime, the market’s main catalyst, Bitcoin, has also stopped growing – it has lost 2.85% within the last 24 hours and is trading at $61,474 at press time.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

• Monday:
  Switzerland CPI.
• Tuesday: Tokyo
  CPI, China Caixin Services PMI, Eurozone PPI, US ISM Services PMI.
• Wednesday:
  Australia GDP, Eurozone Retail Sales, US ADP, BoC Policy Decision, US Job
  Openings, Fed Chair Powell Testimony.
• Thursday: Japan
  Wage data, Switzerland Unemployment Rate, ECB Policy Decision, US Jobless
  Claims, Fed Chair Powell Testimony.
• Friday: US
  NFP, Canada Labour Market report.

Monday

The Switzerland CPI Y/Y is expected to
fall further to 1.1% vs. 1.3% prior. The last
report missed expectations by a big margin
and sparked a strong dovish reaction with the market pricing a 60% chance of a
25 bps rate cut in March. Another miss should seal the rate cut this month,
but even if it beats, it shouldn’t change much for the market.

Tuesday

The Tokyo Core CPI Y/Y, which is seen as a
leading indicator for National CPI, is expected to rise to 2.5% vs. 1.6% prior.
Inflation in Japan has been falling steadily and it’s now basically at target
(excluding the ex-energy/food measure). Nevertheless, the BoJ is solely
focused on wage growth and the spring wage talks will dictate their policy. BoJ’s
Takata recently said that the momentum is
rising in wage talks and that the achievement of the 2% inflation target is
getting in sight. That sparked a strong reaction in the market with the Yen
rallying across the board before giving back most of the gains.

The US ISM Services PMI is expected at
53.0 vs. 53.4 prior. The recent US
S&P Global Services PMI surprisingly
missed expectations with the commentary noting that “services output held its
positive momentum, consistent with a positive change in new business, although
the pace of growth fell to a three-month low. In the meantime, service
providers continued to increase their headcounts. Still, the pace of hiring
slowed as the downtrend in sales growth drove companies to grow cautious of
slowing orders. On the price front, cost inflation faced by firms waned
during the period, but service providers continued to increase their output
charges.

Wednesday

The BoC is expected to keep interest rates
steady at 5.00% with the market expecting the first rate cut in June. As a
reminder, the central bank dropped the tightening bias at the last
meeting and the recent economic data
suggests that the BoC is likely to keep everything unchanged and maintain its
patient stance. Therefore, this particular meeting should be a non-event.

The US Job Openings are expected to fall
to 8.895M vs. 9.026M prior. This will be the first major US labour market
report and, although it’s old (January data), it’s generally a market
moving release. The market will likely focus on the hiring and quit rates as
they both fell below the pre-pandemic trend recently.

Fed Chair Powell will testify to Congress
and, as always, market participants will be attentive to any view or hint about
the monetary policy trajectory. The text is generally released before the
testimony so that will be scanned for clues or “bias”, but the market will also
be focused on the Q&A session following the opening remarks.

Thursday

The Japanese Average Cash Earnings Y/Y will
be a data point to watch given the BoJ’s sole focus on wage growth. The
last month, the data missed forecasts rising by 1.0% Y/Y vs. 1.3% expected and
0.2% prior. The attention though remains on the spring wage negotiations but
the easing in inflation might help to bring real wages into positive territory.

The ECB is expected to keep the deposit
rate unchanged at 4.00%. The central bank members continue to support a
patient stance and the consensus is to wait for the Q1 2024 wage data before
considering a rate cut in June, which is also the current market’s
expectation. The recent data supports the ECB stance as the Eurozone
CPI beat expectations and the labour
market remains historically tight.

The US Jobless Claims continue to be one
of the most important releases every week as it’s a timelier indicator on the
state of the labour market. Initial Claims keep on hovering around cycle
lows, while Continuing Claims remain firm around cycle highs. There’s no consensus
at the time of writing but the last week Initial Claims came at 251K vs.
210K expected and Continuing Claims at 1905K vs. 1874K expected.

Friday

The US NFP report is expected to show 200K
jobs added in February vs. 353K in January and the Unemployment Rate to remain
unchanged at 3.7%. The Average Hourly Earnings Y/Y is expected at 4.4% vs. 4.5%
prior, while the M/M measure is seen at 0.3% vs. 0.6% prior. The Average Weekly
Hours are expected to rise to 34.3 vs. 34.1 prior. The last
report surprised the markets with a huge
beat with the only bad readings in the household survey showing the second
consecutive drop in employment and the average weekly hours falling sharply to
recessionary levels, which also skewed the average hourly earnings print.

The Canadian Labour Market report is
expected to show 20K jobs added in February vs. 37.3K in January
and the Unemployment Rate to tick higher to 5.8% vs. 5.7% prior. The focus
will also be on the wage growth figure as that’s what the BoC is more concerned
with.

Important DisclaimersThe content provided on the website includes general news and publications, our personal analysis and opinions, and contents provided by third parties, which are intended for educational and research purposes only. It does not constitute, and should not be read as, any recommendation or advice to take any action whatsoever, including to make any investment or buy any product. When making any financial decision, you should perform your own due diligence checks, apply your own discretion and consult your competent advisors. The content of the website is not personally directed to you, and we does not take into account your financial situation or needs.The information contained in this website is not necessarily provided in real-time nor is it necessarily accurate. Prices provided herein may be provided by market makers and not by exchanges.Any trading or other financial decision you make shall be at your full responsibility, and you must not rely on any information provided through the website. FX Empire does not provide any warranty regarding any of the information contained in the website, and shall bear no responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using any information contained in the website.The website may include advertisements and other promotional contents, and FX Empire may receive compensation from third parties in connection with the content. FX Empire does not endorse any third party or recommends using any third party’s services, and does not assume responsibility for your use of any such third party’s website or services.FX Empire and its employees, officers, subsidiaries and associates, are not liable nor shall they be held liable for any loss or damage resulting from your use of the website or reliance on the information provided on this website.Risk DisclaimersThis website includes information about cryptocurrencies, contracts for difference (CFDs) and other financial instruments, and about brokers, exchanges and other entities trading in such instruments. Both cryptocurrencies and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money. You should carefully consider whether you understand how these instruments work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.FX Empire encourages you to perform your own research before making any investment decision, and to avoid investing in any financial instrument which you do not fully understand how it works and what are the risks involved.

The new month has begun with a correction on the cryptocurrency market, according to CoinStats.

SHB/USD

SHIB has followed the drop of other coins, going down by 0.16%.

On the hourly chart, the price of SHIB is rising after the breakout of the resistance of $0.00001333. Until the rate is above the $0.00001350, buyers are controlling the situation on the market. 

In this reagard, the growth may continue to the $0.000015 area soon.

On the bigger time frame, traders should pay attentiont to yesterday’s peak of $0.00001473. If the daily bar closes near it, the midterm rise may lead to the $0.000015-$0.000016 zone next week.

From the midterm point of view, the price of SHIB is its way to testing the $0.00001591 level. However, the aproach to this mark plays a huge role. If it happens fast and a false breakout happens, bears might seize the initiative, which could lead to a correction.

SHIB is trading at $0.00001430 at press time.