Circle stock slips after US jobs data: Is $81 within reach?

Circle stock has slipped 0.80% to $80.19 in Thursday’s intraday trading after U.S. jobless claims came in below expectations, leaving CRCL below the $81 level as cryptocurrency prices weakened.

The U.S. Labor Department reported 197,000 initial unemployment benefit applications for the week ending Oct. 3, a decline of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised total. Economists surveyed by Reuters had expected 200,000 applications, according to the agency’s Oct. 8 report.

Circle stock trades below the report’s $81 recovery level

At $80.19, Circle shares were down $0.64 in the intraday snapshot cited in the market report. During the same period, the report placed Bitcoin near $82,700, Ethereum around $2,550, and XRP at approximately $1.41.

In its technical assessment, the report identified $80.84 as the first resistance level for CRCL, followed by a zone between $81.30 and $81.40. Under that assessment, an advance toward $81 would first require the stock to move through the nearer resistance.

On the downside, the report placed support around $79.11 and identified $79 as another threshold. Its assessment associated rejection at resistance with further downside risk, while describing a move above resistance as a possible step toward recovery.

Earlier on Thursday, Stocktwits reported that Circle, Coinbase, Strategy and Bitmine Immersion Technologies were under pressure in premarket trading as Bitcoin fell below $83,000.

According to that report, oil prices rose, and Treasury yields moved toward recent highs following reports that the White House had requested military strike options against Iran. Stocktwits linked the weakness in crypto shares to the market reaction to those reports.

Across cryptocurrency derivatives markets, CoinGlass data cited in the market report showed more than $400 million in liquidations over the preceding 24 hours. The report also recorded losses in Ethereum, XRP and Solana alongside Bitcoin’s decline.

U.S. claims fall while continuing applications increase

Within Thursday’s labor figures, the department revised the previous week’s initial claims reading from 197,000 to 199,000. The revision put the latest total 2,000 below the preceding week, rather than leaving the two readings unchanged.

For the four-week moving average, the department reported a decline of 2,500 to 198,000. Reuters described the average as a measure that reduces weekly volatility and reported that the latest reading was the lowest since early October 2022.

Continuing claims moved in the opposite direction. According to the department’s figures cited in the report, applications by people already receiving benefits increased by 17,000 to 1.716 million for the week ending Sep. 26.

In Reuters’ account, Navy Federal Credit Union chief economist Heather Long described employment conditions as a “low-hire, low-fire” market. The agency also reported that September payrolls increased by 29,000, compared with 133,000 in August.

For Circle, the connection between interest rates and company finances appears in its earnings disclosures. During its second-quarter results, the company said a lower return on reserves had offset part of the benefit from growth in USDC circulation.

As crypto.news previously reported, Circle renewed its Coinbase agreement on existing terms through 2029, confirming the arrangement during its Aug. 5 earnings call. Under the filed agreement, Coinbase receives payments tied mainly to income from assets backing USDC.

At the end of the quarter, Circle reported that Coinbase held 30% of USDC circulation on its platform. The issuer recorded $701 million in quarterly revenue and reserve income, up 7% from a year earlier, with USDC circulation reaching $73.3 billion.

Circle’s SAP partnership adds dollar and euro payment options

On Oct. 7, Circle announced its partnership with SAP-backed Tereina, starting with SAP Cloud ERP. The companies said eligible businesses would gain access to stablecoin payments inside applications their finance teams already use.

The agreement, covered in the Oct. 7 report on stablecoin payments through SAP, makes USDC the preferred stablecoin for eligible dollar-denominated workflows. EURC will provide an option for euro payments, according to the announcement.

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire described stablecoins as a “core infrastructure layer for global commerce.” In the release, he said the Tereina integration would make digital money easier to incorporate into everyday business operations.

Through SAP Pay, the companies said the integration would address an enterprise ecosystem whose customers generate 84% of global commerce. Circle’s announcement described the service as an addition to existing business applications, allowing participating companies to send and receive stablecoins without replacing their operating systems.

SAP Pay supports U.S. businesses alongside existing payment methods

For American enterprise customers, SAP’s product documentation states that the cloud service can process transactions for customers or affiliates domiciled in the United States or European Union, unless its documentation provides otherwise.

According to SAP, the service supports ACH, electronic funds transfers, wires, checks, and USDC payments through one connection. Its listed capabilities cover more than 40 currencies and 89 payment corridors.

Within the same workflow, SAP says payments are reconciled against the originating invoice or purchase order. Businesses retain control over payment timing, currency and method, while a pre-integrated Circle Mint account supports USDC payments.

Separately, Bernstein’s Aug. 24 research, covered in a report on its retained $140 price target, tied Circle’s investment case to stablecoin payments, tokenized assets and blockchain-based capital markets. The brokerage maintained an Outperform rating and estimated adjusted stablecoin transaction activity at a $17 trillion annualized pace through July.

Over the coming months, Circle and Tereina said they plan to conduct customer proof-of-value programs, train treasury and payment specialists, and work with ecosystem partners on enterprise stablecoin implementations. Their announcement also provides for studying real-world adoption as those implementations progress.