Bitcoin (BTC) slid to fresh multi-week lows as Friday's opening bell rang on Wall Street, moving against the grain of a US equity market staging a sharp rebound from Thursday's sell-off.

The flagship cryptocurrency fell to $74,762 shortly after the start of Friday's US trading session, its weakest level since Aug. 21, TradingView data showed. In contrast, investors piled into discounted technology shares, with the Nasdaq Composite Index gaining 1.8% during its first hour of trading.

Market analysts cautioned that a return to $69,000 remains a possibility if key long-term trendline support gives way.

Bitcoin extends losses as US jobs data beats forecasts

BTC/USD slipped below $75,000 during Friday's session, reaching levels last seen in mid-August, per TradingView data. The total cryptocurrency market capitalization was down 0.5% on the day.

BTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

US stock markets rebounded as traders took advantage of heavily discounted tech shares. The S&P 500 traded up 0.6%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 1.2% at the time of writing.

Nasdaq Composite Index one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Certain technology names posted far steeper gains, with SanDisk and Micron Technologies each up 6.3%.

US nonfarm payrolls data released on Friday showed that the economy added 165,000 jobs in October, well above market expectations of 65,000. September's initially reported total of 29,000 was also revised upward to 60,000. Nonfarm payrolls, the Bureau of Labor Statistics' monthly tally of US hiring outside the farm sector, is one of the most closely watched releases on the economic calendar.

“Employment increased in professional and business services, in health care, and in transportation and warehousing,” an official release from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) stated, adding that the unemployment rate stood at 4.1% versus a predicted 4.2%.

US civilian unemployment rate. Source: BLS

A stronger labor-market performance can create a headwind for crypto and other risk assets, as it suggests the economy can manage any policy tightening, which in turn can reduce liquidity inflows to the market.

On the back of the latest data, expectations that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates by 25 basis points at its December meeting increased from 66.9% to 76.8%, according to CME Group's FedWatch Tool, which derives those probabilities from pricing in fed funds futures. For crypto and other risk assets, the jump illustrates how quickly rate expectations, and the liquidity backdrop they shape, can shift on a single data release.

Fed target-rate probability comparison for the December FOMC meeting (screenshot). Source: CME Group

Related: Here's what happened in crypto today

Analyst sees potential Bitcoin price drop to $69,000

Bitcoin tested support around its 50-week simple moving average (SMA), which sits at $77,533. Moving averages on this timeframe are widely used by technical analysts as a barometer of long-term trend strength, which is why the level's behavior into the weekly close is drawing attention.

BTC/USD one-day chart with 50-week SMA. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

In his latest market analysis, Keith Alan, cofounder of crypto trading platform Material Indicators, warned of the consequences of losing the trendline, which has acted as support since mid-September.

“As strong as this support level looks from both a technical and structural perspective, we can’t confirm its durability before the W close,” he wrote on X, referring to the weekly candle close.

Alan saw a drop to as low as $69,000 for BTC/USD should the area around $75,500 fail to hold. A recovery, he added, would depend on the pair producing a series of higher highs and higher lows on lower time frames.

This article was originally published by Cointelegraph.