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It was an exceptionally strong week for cryptocurrency-exposed stocks among the broader financial sector, as bitcoin (BTC-USD) gained 4.2%. Earlier this week, Michael Novogratz, founder and CEO of Galaxy Digital, said crypto stocks have been rallying in response to a dovish Fed.
Meanwhile, traditional financial stocks treaded water during the same period, with the Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF) ending the week at $37.26 vs. $37.35 at Dec. 15’s close.
Marathon Digital Holdings (NASDAQ:MARA), soaring 46%, topped the list of gainers for the week ended Dec. 22, the last 5-day trading week of the year. On Monday, the company agreed to acquire two bitcoin mining sites for $179M. On Friday, the stock was one of several crypto-related stocks that reached a 52-week high as optimism for the cryptosphere continued.
Crypto exchange Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN) surged 19%;
Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT) jumped 14%;
CleanSpark (NASDAQ:CLSK) climbed 12%; and
Stock and crypto-trading app Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ:HOOD) gained 11%.
More traditional finance names populated the biggest decliners list, with New York Community Bancorp (NYSE:NYCB) dropping the most, -8.0%. Early in the week, KBW downgraded the stock to Market Perform citing uncertainty around its credit quality and expenses.
Hong Kong-based Futu Holdings (NASDAQ:FUTU) slid 6.3% during the week;
Aon Plc (NYSE:AON) dipped 6.0% in the week that it agreed to buy NFP for $13.4B in stock and cash;
Synovus Financial (NYSE:SNV) dropped 4.7%; and
M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) fell 4.4% after Deutsche Bank downgraded the bank to Hold, citing rate and credit pressures.