Updated Mar 5, 2024, 04:07pm EST
Topline
Despite a brief euphoria during the late morning as bitcoin touched its highest price ever, it was largely a dreary Tuesday for investors as major stock indexes declined and bitcoin retreated significantly during the afternoon.
Key Facts
Bitcoin sank 12% from its all-time high of $68,925 achieved late morning to below $61,000 by late afternoon, heading toward what would be its worst daily decline since Nov. 2022, though bitcoin is at about the same level it was Friday and remains up almost 40% for the year.
Bitcoin’s slipup is likely a result of significant profit taking from investors looking to capitalize on the record price, evidenced by bitcoin posting its largest daily volume since late 2022 at about $100 billion, according to Yahoo Finance data.
Equities also took a breather, as the S&P 500 tumbled 1%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1%, or 405 points, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 1.7% without any major negative economic or earnings catalysts.
Among the biggest stock losers Tuesday were limping mega-cap laggards Apple and Tesla—Apple shares fell 3% to their lowest level since October and Tesla shares fell 4% to their cheapest price since May.
The scorching hot artificial intelligence stocks which have ranked alongside bitcoin as the top-performing investments of 2024 also fell Tuesday, as 29 of the 30 semiconductor chip stocks listed on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange’s Semiconductor index (SOX) were in the red, headlined by Intel and Broadcom’s roughly 5% losses.
Big Number
More than $130 billion. That’s how much market capitalization bitcoin lost from 10 a.m. EST to 4 p.m., according to CoinGecko. That’s roughly equivalent to the total market value of the United Parcel Service or Goldman Sachs.
Surprising Fact
The Dow’s 510-point dip is the blue chip index’s second-steepest daily loss this year. The Dow’s year-to-date gain is now just 2%, far underperforming the S&P’s and Nasdaq’s 7% respective gains. The Dow, Nasdaq and S&P each tallied record highs over the last two weeks, with Tuesday’s losses serving as a rare step back for the otherwise hot equity market. Bitcoin, which is among the most popular alternative investment classes in the world, especially for retail investors, often experiences much wider price swings than its stock counterparts.
Further Reading
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