In a week dominated by geopolitical tensions over Greenland and back-and-forth tariff threats, Ethereum (ETH), like much of the broader crypto market, once again showed a strong correlation with macroeconomic factors. The top altcoin has declined by 12% since the beginning of the week.
The US Dollar (USD) ended the week near a five-week low of around 97.80, maintaining a weak tone amid risk aversion in financial markets.
USD/JPY plunges over 300 pips on Friday amid suspected Japan Ministry of Finance (MoF) "rate check", as excessive Yen (JPY) weakness fuels intervention fears. At the time of writing, the pair is trading around 156.18, down nearly 1.40% on the day, sliding to its lowest level since late December.
The British Pound (GBP) continues to outperform the US Dollar (USD) on Friday, with GBP/USD climbing to the 1.3600 handle as the Greenback remains under broad-based selling pressure. At the time of writing, the pair is up nearly 0.73% on the day, marking its highest level since September 18, 2025.
The Euro (EUR) trades flat against the US Dollar (USD) on Friday, as traders show a muted reaction to the latest US economic data. At the time of writing, EUR/USD is hovering near 1.1750 and remains on track for its first weekly gain in three weeks amid sustained weakness in the Greenback.
Silver prices had reached the $100.00 milestone, recording an all-time high of $100.33, before retreating towards the triple digit figure. On Friday, the grey metal post gains of close to 4% after bouncing off daily lows of $96.14.
GBP/USD surges during the North American session over 0.31% on stronger than expected Retail Sales and PMI data, even though the Greenback trimmed losses on an upbeat Consumer Sentiment report. The pair trades at 1.3542 after bouncing off daily lows of 1.3482.
Business activity in the US private sector expanded at a slightly better pace in January than in December, with the S&P Global's preliminary Composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) edging higher to 52.8 from 52.7.
UBS Group AG, one of the world’s largest asset managers, is planning to offer cryptocurrency investment services to a select group of its Swiss-based private bank clients, according to Bloomberg.