The biggest crypto tokens remained virtually unchanged on Thursday as the semiconductor sell-off that has driven markets for two weeks showed its first real sign of easing.
Ether was trading at around $1,905 and Bitcoin at $64,100, both stable on the day, with XRP at $1.07, solana at $74, BNB at $572 and TRON at 33 cents. Hyperliquid’s HYPE slipped to $54. Volumes were modest, with around $28 billion traded in bitcoin and $10 billion in ether.
Electronics giant Samsung said chip profits rose more than 250 times due to AI memory shortages, and the Kospi fluctuated between a 6% gain and a 2% loss before stabilizing, following a period that sent the index down more than 40% from its June peak.
Samsung’s reaction is indicative of how high the bar is. The 250-fold profit sent shares up 2%. SK Hynix reported profit on Wednesday, up 557% and down 17%. Results are not the problem, expectations are.
US profits spread overnight. Microsoft gained nearly 9% in extended trading on its fastest cloud growth in four years, while Meta fell 8% on weak revenue forecasts. Nasdaq 100 futures rose 1% after the index entered a technical correction on Wednesday.
