Dogecoin fell 4.9 percent to $0.08 after the US added 162,000 jobs in August, triple the 53,000 forecast, lifting September Fed rate-hike odds to about 60 percent and making risk-free Treasuries more attractive than speculative tokens.
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Dogecoin slides 4.9% as blowout jobs report lifts Fed hike odds
A stronger-than-expected US labor market has turned the screws on speculative crypto. Dogecoin dropped 4.9 percent to $0.08 on Sept. 4, its slide accelerating after the August payrolls report showed employers added 162,000 jobs — more than three times the 53,000 economists had penciled in — and traders repriced the Federal Reserve's September meeting toward a hike.
The print was "a huge August jobs report," Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, said. The unemployment rate held at 4.1 percent and average hourly earnings rose 0.3 percent, both matching expectations, leaving the headline hiring number alone to drive the day's repricing.
September hike odds climbed to roughly 60 percent from about 49 percent before the release, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool, and the 2-year Treasury yield rose in the report's aftermath. Higher yields on risk-free government debt raise the opportunity cost of holding assets that pay no income, and the effect lands hardest on tokens with no underlying cash flow. The S&P 500 fell 0.4 percent and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.3 percent, while Bitcoin slipped 2.19 percent to $79,790 — a shallower decline than Dogecoin's, a gap that reflects how speculative, no-fundamental assets absorb an outsize share of the risk-off move.
The sell-off extends a stretch of weakness for the memecoin, which trades near the bottom of its 52-week range of $0.07 to $0.30 with a market capitalization of about $13 billion. The Federal Reserve's Sept. 15-16 meeting, its first with updated economic projections since June, now looms as the next test: whether Chair Kevin Warsh and colleagues follow through on a hike will hinge on the consumer price index and producer price index releases due next week, the final inflation inputs before the decision. A confirmed hike would keep risk-free yields elevated and sustain pressure on Dogecoin and its speculative peers into the fourth quarter.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
[1] Why Is Dogecoin Down?[2] August Payrolls Smashed Forecasts, But AI-Exposed Information Sector Cut Jobs at Record Pace[3] U.S. employers add 162,000 jobs in August, beating forecasts[4] The Odds of a September Rate Hike Have Nearly Doubled, Courtesy of Fed Chair Kevin Warsh -- Here's What He Just Said - The Globe and Mail
