Crypto prices are rebounding from their worst weekend levels in early US trading on Monday, along with a significant bounce in US stock indexes.
About an hour into the session, the Nasdaq is down just 0.1% after futures at one point overnight indicated a plunge of more than 2%. The S&P 500 and DJIA also have only very modest losses.
Gold remains higher by 2% and crude oil by 7%. The US dollar index has one of its strongest sessions in weeks, rising 1%.
Bitcoin has moved up to $68,600, a gain of 2.3% over the past 24 hours. Ether (ETH) is higher by 1.4%, with solana (SOL) and XRP (XRP) up similar amounts.
Crypto-related stocks post even bigger gains, led by Circle’s (CRCL) gain of 12%. Strategy (MSTR) is higher by 6% and Galaxy Digital (GLXY) by 4.7%.
On the macro side, the ISM manufacturing PMI came in at 52.4 for February, marking another month of sector expansion and the first consecutive streak of prints above 50 since the fourth quarter of 2022. This follows Friday’s Chicago Business Barometer, which rose to 57.7 in February 2026 from 54 of 528 previously and well above expectations. The reading signals only the second expansion since November 2023 and reflects the strongest activity growth in the US since May 2022.
Against the backdrop of conflict in the Middle East, accelerating manufacturing activity, warmer-than-expected PPI data last week and higher oil prices driven by geopolitical tensions, a March rate cut is now effectively off the table ahead of the Federal Reserve’s March 18 meeting.
Normally, that might be considered a headwind for crypto prices, but it’s quite possible that markets had already priced in tighter than previously expected US monetary policy.
