Nikada
It was a tough week for cryptocurrency-linked stocks among the wider financial sector, as bitcoin (BTC-USD) extended its retreat, sliding 2.7%. BTC started to roll off its highs after the approval of exchange-traded funds investing directly in the token. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon recently said that he would advise his clients not to touch the coin or any of the spot ETFs.
With the finance sector kicking off earnings season, traditional financial stocks (with $2B+ market cap) rose slightly for the week ended Jan. 19. The Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSEARCA:XLF) edged up 0.7%, compared with the S&P 500’s 1.2% ascent.
Topping the list of losers, Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA) dropped 28% during a week in which it completed the purchase of two bitcoin (BTC-USD) mining sites from Generate Capital;
Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT), a fellow BTC miner, slid 21.4%;
India’s HDFC Bank (NYSE:HDB) shed 14.6% after posting fiscal Q3 results;
Credit card issuer Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) fell 12.5% on the back of a quarterly earnings miss and an analyst downgrade; and
Crypto exchange Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN) rounded out the five biggest decliners with a 11.6% loss, as it argued for the Securities and Exchange Commission to dismiss a lawsuit accusing the company of selling unregistered securities.
For the winners, Argentine lender Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. (NASDAQ:GGAL) took the lead, jumping 8.9%;
Property and casualty insurer Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) climbed 8.6% after Q4 earnings blew away Wall Street expectations;
Hamilton Lane (NASDAQ:HLNE) accelerated 7.6%;
PayPal Holdings (NASDAQ:PYPL) gained 7.3% even after Mizuho downgraded the payments giant to Neutral; and
White Mountains Insurance Group (NYSE:WTM) scored a 7.3% rise.
