Asset Correlations
How the major markets move in relation to one another — crypto, stock indices, commodities and forex on a single grid, recomputed from daily price moves.
Pearson correlation of daily returns · 90 trading days
BTC | ETH | S&P 500 | Nasdaq | Gold | Silver | WTI Oil | EUR/USD | GBP/USD | USD/JPY | DXY | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BTC | 1 | 0.94 | 0.50 | 0.51 | 0.09 | 0.09 | -0.08 | 0.05 | -0.03 | -0.06 | -0.04 |
| ETH | 0.94 | 1 | 0.46 | 0.48 | 0.13 | 0.13 | -0.06 | 0.11 | 0.04 | -0.09 | -0.10 |
| S&P 500 | 0.50 | 0.46 | 1 | 0.97 | 0.23 | 0.29 | -0.48 | 0.11 | 0.00 | -0.08 | -0.10 |
| Nasdaq | 0.51 | 0.48 | 0.97 | 1 | 0.23 | 0.30 | -0.45 | 0.13 | 0.03 | -0.07 | -0.11 |
| Gold | 0.09 | 0.13 | 0.23 | 0.23 | 1 | 0.85 | -0.11 | 0.31 | 0.27 | -0.29 | -0.32 |
| Silver | 0.09 | 0.13 | 0.29 | 0.30 | 0.85 | 1 | -0.14 | 0.25 | 0.24 | -0.24 | -0.27 |
| WTI Oil | -0.08 | -0.06 | -0.48 | -0.45 | -0.11 | -0.14 | 1 | -0.13 | -0.10 | 0.13 | 0.13 |
| EUR/USD | 0.05 | 0.11 | 0.11 | 0.13 | 0.31 | 0.25 | -0.13 | 1 | 0.88 | -0.66 | -0.98 |
| GBP/USD | -0.03 | 0.04 | 0.00 | 0.03 | 0.27 | 0.24 | -0.10 | 0.88 | 1 | -0.62 | -0.91 |
| USD/JPY | -0.06 | -0.09 | -0.08 | -0.07 | -0.29 | -0.24 | 0.13 | -0.66 | -0.62 | 1 | 0.77 |
| DXY | -0.04 | -0.10 | -0.10 | -0.11 | -0.32 | -0.27 | 0.13 | -0.98 | -0.91 | 0.77 | 1 |
📖 How to read it
- 🟢Each cell is a correlation from −1 to +1. Green means the two assets tend to move together; red means they tend to move in opposite directions.
- 🔴Values near 0 mean little to no relationship. The stronger the colour, the stronger the link over the selected window.
- ⚪Correlation is not causation, and it changes over time — switch the 30 / 90 / 180-day windows to see how relationships tighten or loosen.
- 🕒Markets close at different times of day, so daily moves don't line up perfectly. Read cross-asset values (e.g. crypto vs stocks) as the direction and rough strength of a link, not an exact figure.
🧭 Why these assets move together
The structural reasons behind the numbers — the relationships worth knowing before you read the grid.
💵The Dollar Index vs EUR/USD — a mirror image
The Dollar Index (DXY) measures the dollar against a basket of currencies that is almost 58% euro, so DXY and EUR/USD are nearly perfect opposites — when the euro rises against the dollar, the index falls, and vice-versa. This is the closest thing to a mechanical −1 relationship on the whole grid. If you trade EUR/USD, you are effectively trading the dollar index upside down.
💵A strong dollar is a headwind for gold
Gold is priced in dollars, so a stronger dollar (a rising DXY) makes gold more expensive for the rest of the world and tends to push its price down; a weaker dollar lifts it. The link is real but not rigid — during fear-driven rallies investors buy gold AND the dollar at once as safe havens, and the usual inverse relationship can break down for a while.
₿Bitcoin vs Nasdaq — a risk-on pair
Since 2020 Bitcoin has traded increasingly like a high-beta tech stock: when investors take on risk, both crypto and the Nasdaq rally; when liquidity tightens, both sell off. The correlation rises in stress and fades in calm, quiet markets — so watch it change rather than assuming it is fixed.
🥇Gold vs Silver — strongly positive
Both are precious metals driven by the same macro forces — real yields, the dollar and safe-haven demand — so they usually move together. Silver is the more volatile of the two and has a larger industrial demand component, so it often amplifies gold's moves in both directions.
📈S&P 500 vs Nasdaq — almost the same trade
The two big US equity indices overlap heavily — the largest technology companies dominate both — so their correlation is very high. The Nasdaq tilts more toward growth and technology, so it tends to move further on the same news, especially when interest rates shift.
🪙Bitcoin vs Gold — 'digital gold' or not?
Bitcoin is often called 'digital gold', but in practice the two rarely move together day to day. Gold behaves like a defensive safe haven, while Bitcoin still trades like a risk asset most of the time. Their correlation is usually weak and unstable — occasionally aligning when both react to the dollar or inflation, but just as often drifting apart.
🛢️Oil vs Stocks — it depends on the shock
When the economy is growing, oil and stocks can rise together — both feed off strong demand. But when oil spikes because of a supply shock, expensive energy squeezes company margins and consumers, and stocks can fall while oil climbs. That is why this pair flips between positive and negative depending on what is driving the move.
🌍EUR/USD vs GBP/USD — the dollar's two sides
Both pairs have the US dollar on one side, so a broad dollar move pushes them in the same direction — they usually rise and fall together. The euro and the pound are also closely tied through European trade and policy. They diverge mainly when something specific hits just the UK or just the euro area.
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