On Friday, Ethereum’s price surged over 6% within hours to break above the $2,000 mark, a key technical level that bullish traders are seeking to turn into support. On Saturday, Ethereum was trading around $1,966 and was up 4% in the past 24 hours after rising to intraday highs of $2,008. The total cryptocurrency market cap rose 1.5% to above $1.27 trillion as memecoin mania returned and Pepe (PEPE) and Floki Inu (FLOKI) prices surged after listing on Binance.
The cryptocurrency market’s recent gains come as US equities ended the week higher, with the major indices all turning green after a four-day losing streak. The S&P 500 closed 1.85% up, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 546 points, or 1.65%, and the Nasdaq closed 2.25% higher.
The positive returns for the market came as equities rebounded, led by shares of Apple (AAPL), which jumped to a nine-month high on the iPhone maker’s better-than-expected quarterly report. The market also saw regional bank stocks show some recovery after a massive sell-off in the week, with PacWest shares among those to rebound after falling over 60% on Thursday.
Both Ethereum and Bitcoin are looking to benefit from an uptick in investor sentiment, particularly the risk appetite that has returned following recent dips. While crypto and other risky assets are likely to benefit from overall investor sentiment, the coming week will be important as the markets assess April’s CPI report.
The Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell, hinted this week that the central bank could pause its interest rates hike. However, with this week’s strong jobs data, all eyes will be on the CPI data as investors evaluate the inflation indicator. Overall, Ethereum’s price increase can be attributed to positive market sentiment, the rebounding of US equities, and the surge in memecoin mania.
