Rate cut expectations dampened by strong U.S. jobs report...Bitcoin stays in mid-$69,000s, consolidates for fifth day

As of 8 a.m. on Tuesday, the price of bitcoin was up 0.41% from 24 hours earlier to $69,622, according to cryptocurrency market tracker CoinMarketCap. At the same time, ethereum, the leading altcoin, was trading at $3706, up 0.81% from the previous day, and ripple was up 1.01% at $0.494.

Earlier, the price of bitcoin soared to $71,000 after the U.S. Department of Labor reported that the number of job openings in May fell well below market expectations. The number of job openings came in at 8.059 million, while market expectations were for 8.37 million. In addition, private payrolls data from payroll services firm ADP showed a sharp decline in new hires to 152,000, which led the market to believe that a rate cut is likely in September.

However, expectations of a rate cut were also dampened on May 7 when it was reported that the U.S. added 272,000 new nonfarm payrolls in May from the previous month. The 272,000 month-over-month increase exceeded both the consensus forecast and the average gain over the previous 12 months (232,000) as compiled by Dow Jones. With the labor market remaining strong, there is speculation that the Fed will delay rate cuts.

“May's U.S. nonfarm payrolls report was surprisingly strong,” said Andrew Hollenhorst, Citigroup's chief U.S. economist, “which will influence the Fed's rate decision as it awaits data on slowing economic activity and easing inflation.

“The recent momentum in U.S. job growth suggests that it may take more than three months for the Fed's ‘broad labor market weakness’ condition for a rate cut to materialize,” said Michael Feroli, chief U.S. economist at JPMorgan.