Wall Street Plunges Due to Inflation and Erase 470 Billion $

Wind of panic and crash at the New York Stock Exchange. The day after the Federal Reserve (Fed) decision to keep its interest rates unchanged, the release of the latest ICP inflation index figures doused the markets. In a few minutes, more than 470 billion dollars of market capitalization disappeared at Wall Street.

In brief

• The ICP inflation index is at its highest for 4 months, reviving the fear of a new Fed rate hike.
• Pulled down by Alphabet’s (Google) 12% plunge, the stock market suffers a massive sell-off of 470 billion dollars.
• Bitcoin stable around $80,000 resists the crash of traditional financial markets.

Inflation (ICP): the Figures Behind the Wall Street Crisis

The trigger of this stock market drop at Wall Street is the release of official data on the ICP inflation index (PCE), the indicator most watched by the Fed to guide its monetary policy. This price shock comes in a tense context as the day before, the Fed announced the keeping of its interest rates unchanged. But the ICP inflation figures came out clearly above forecasts.

The core ICP inflation index (Core) stands at +2.8% over one year (against +2.6% expected), with an increase of +0.3% over one month. The overall ICP inflation rises to +2.7% over one year (against +2.5% forecast), its highest level in 4 months. These data immediately revive the fear of high rates. For stock market investors, the Fed could block rate cuts or decide on a new rate hike in December. This causes panic selling at Wall Street, erasing 470 billion dollars of stocks.

Fall of Google on the Stock Exchange, a Crash that Hides its Crypto Project

At the heart of the stock turmoil, Alphabet (Google) suffers a real crash at the opening of Wall Street with a drop of more than 12% of its stock, pulling the rest of the Stock Exchange and Nasdaq down following costs considered too high in AI.

Stock / Ticker Opening drop Market Impact (Capitalization) Google / Alphabet ($GOOGL) -12.80% Tech sector drop Amazon ($AMZN) -9.01% Sharp drop in the e-commerce sector Broadcom ($AVGO) -8.26% Massive sell-off on chips and semiconductors Nvidia ($NVDA) -6.90% Heavy sell-offs on the graphics card giant Microsoft ($MSFT) -6.70% Marked decline in software and Cloud values Stock indices dropping at Wall Street, data compiled by Cointribune.

Yet, this drop in Google stock hides a major announcement for the financial market and Web3. A few hours earlier, Google presented its new crypto custody service for banks based on Multi-Party Compute (MPC) technology. This service, already used by Google to secure its own assets on Ethereum and Solana, aims to offer banks an ultra-secure custody solution against AI-boosted cyberattacks.

Bitcoin at 80,000 Dollars Resists the Wall Street Crash 

While Wall Street and the Stock Exchange collapse, the crypto market shows impressive stability. The price of Bitcoin (BTC) firmly holds above the psychological threshold of 80,000 dollars, refusing to yield to the general panic of financial markets. Defending this zone shows that crypto investors remain buyers.

Moreover, a recent transfer of 500 million dollars in bitcoin to Coinbase Prime signals that major institutional players are closely watching the Fed’s monetary policy. So if BTC holds the 80,000 $ level against the Wall Street crash, it will strengthen its role as an alternative safe haven against inflation and Fed decisions.

The explosion of the ICP inflation index swept away stock market optimism and revived fear of Fed rates. But facing this purge of 470 billion dollars at Wall Street, the firmness of bitcoin at 80,000 dollars and Google’s entry into crypto custody show that digital assets keep a steady course despite the financial storm.