Bitcoin (BTC) remained lower as Wall Street opened on Feb. 24 as United States macro data showed inflation lagging.
BTC/USD 1 Hour Candlestick Chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView
PCE raises new doubts about inflation
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView followed BTC/USD as it traded in a narrowing range around $23,800.
The pair saw an attempt to reclaim $24,500 the previous day, but it ultimately proved fruitless as resistance kept gains in check.
Bitcoin still saw only a muted reaction to the latest US Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) Index, which came in at 4.7% versus the 4.3% forecast, suggesting inflation was not falling as quickly as hoped.
For popular commentator Tedtalksmacro, this was the reason for the Federal Reserve to consider a major rate hike at its March meeting – a potential headwind for risky assets, including crypto.
“Here comes the speculation of 50bps in March,” he argued in part of a Twitter reaction.
Meanwhile, Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe, focusing on BTC/USD itself, remained bullish on the near-term outlook.
“Markets are still having a regular correction within an uptrend,” he wrote alongside a chart with significant levels highlighted.
“As long as bitcoin stays above $22k, that would be enough to see continuation towards $25k+.” BTC/USD commented chart. Source: Michael van de Poppe/Twitter
Monitoring resources material indicators showed resistance in Binance’s order book trading above the spot price, with the biggest support at $23,000.
BTC/USD order book data (Binance). Source: Material Indicators/ Twitter
Popular trader and analyst Rekt Capital also revealed that BTC/USD was attempting to hold a trendline that recently flipped to support in intraday timeframes.
“There hasn’t been a third straight retest yet but BTC is still holding above the lower high resistance,” he tweeted.
“If this price stability holds here, one could argue that in sell-side momentum price is slowing against this new bottom high support.” Annotated BTC/USD chart. Source: Rekt Capital/ Twitter
US dollar challenges 2023 high
U.S. stocks suffered a more significant drop on the PCE numbers, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index down 1.4% and 1.7%, respectively, at the time of writing.
Related: Bitcoin Must Use $1 Trillion in Central Bank Liquidity to Beat the Sellers – Research
A welcome boost came to the US Dollar Index (DXY), which climbed to 105.3 on the day, its highest level since January 6th.
US Dollar Index (DXY) 1-day candlestick chart. Source: TradingView
DXY weakness had characterized much of the crypto comeback in January, which reversed in February, in line with mounting difficulties facing bitcoin bulls anxious to hold on to gains in excess of 50%.
“US dollar index DXY continues to move into the 200-day moving average cloud,” wrote Caleb Franzen, senior market analyst at Cubic Analytics, in part of a Twitter summary.
Franzen added that DXY “might see more upside within this range, but the entire range is potential resistance.”
US Dollar Index (DXY) annotated chart. Source: Caleb Franzen/ Twitter
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
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