LIVE: Bitcoin abruptly breaks $65,000 as will it won’t it semi-rally continues

Bitcoin abruptly surged past $65,000 on Friday moments before US jobs data was released, though still basically flat for the week.

TradingView data showed Ether at $1,903, while other major cryptocurrencies were mostly within a percentage point or two of where they started.

Then the jobs report landed, and it was much weaker than expected. US nonfarm payrolls fell by 23,000 in July, completely missing the 83,000 increase economists surveyed by Dow Jones had expected.

The unemployment rate dropped to 4.1%, rather than staying at the anticipated 4.2%, but that came as the labor force participation rate sank to its lowest level in more than five years.

Stock futures liked the numbers. Traders took the weak employment print as another reason for the Federal Reserve to leave interest rates alone at its September meeting.

Nasdaq 100 futures jumped 1.2%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.5%, and Dow futures climbed 160 points, or 0.3%. CME FedWatch pricing also showed most fed funds futures traders expecting the Fed to keep its benchmark rate at 3.50% to 3.75% next month.

The bounce comes after a rough Thursday on Wall Street. Higher oil prices had dragged on equities, leaving the Dow down more than 460 points, or 0.9%, and ending its five-session winning streak. The S&P 500 lost 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.1%.

Oil went the other way Friday. September WTI futures fell 0.6% to $76.85 a barrel, while Brent crude dropped 0.7% to $81.90.

Precious metals were having a much stronger day. Gold rose another 1% to around $4,300 an ounce, while silver broke above $64 an ounce after climbing more than 4% over the past 24 hours.