If you were a betting man, Fed hike bets, oil surge weigh on risk appetite

Data on Friday showed that U.S. employers added 162,000 jobs in August, nearly triple economists’ expectations, while the unemployment rate held at 4.1%.

The report pushed markets to price a roughly 60% probability of a Fed rate increase at the Sept. 15-16 meeting, up from 49% before the data, according to CME FedWatch.

Higher interest rates tend to weigh on Bitcoin and other speculative assets by raising the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding investments and tightening financial conditions.

Oil prices have added another source of uncertainty. Brent crude climbed to around $97 a barrel on Monday as military tensions between the United States and Iran raised concerns over supply disruptions in the Middle East.

The U.S. military said it struck three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday after Iranian forces targeted U.S. Navy vessels with ballistic missiles.

Investors are now turning to U.S. inflation data for further clues on the Fed’s policy path, with producer prices due on Thursday and consumer prices on Friday. A hotter inflation reading could reinforce expectations for tighter monetary policy.