Bitcoin fell back below $74,000 early in the US session, with the rebound from Tuesday’s lows quickly fading as weakness in tech stocks weighed on the crypto.
The Nasdaq 100 was down 1% after the previous day’s 1.5% drop. The software sector continued its slide, with the iShares Expanded Tech-Software thematic ETF (IGV) down a further 4%, now down 17% in just over a week, amid fears that AI could be seriously disruptive.
Crypto miners, increasingly tied to building AI infrastructure, followed the trend, with Cipher Mining (CIFR), IREN and Hut 8 (HUT) down more than 10%. Those declines came from chipmaker AMD, which fell 14% after its 2026 outlook failed to meet analysts’ expectations.
Gold was also caught up in the selling, with the yellow metal quickly reversing its overnight rise to $5,113 an ounce and falling back below $5,000.
US economic data is mixed
The ISM Services PMI for January remained stable at 53.8, matching December’s revised reading and beating expectations by a hair, indicating continued expansion in the services sector.
However, private sector job growth slowed sharply, with only 22,000 jobs created according to an ADP report, well below the forecast of 48,000 and the already low 37,000 in December. The government’s January employment report should have been released this Friday, but the brief government shutdown delayed it until next week.
“Manufacturing has lost jobs every month since March 2024 (Main Street recession), but this month professional and business services and large employers joined the weakness,” said Quinn Thompson, CIO at Lekker Capital, who believes markets are underestimating the extent of Fed stimulus that could come in 2026.
