Bitcoin climbed to its highest level since mid-March on Tuesday, touching $76,038 on Bitstamp as softer-than-expected US inflation data lifted risk assets.
PPI misses expectations
The March Producer Price Index print came in at just 0.5% month-on-month, far below the 1.1% consensus forecast, and 4.0% year-on-year against an expected 4.7%.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics noted:
“The March rise in final demand prices can be attributed to a 1.6-percent advance in the index for final demand goods. Prices for final demand services were unchanged.”
Despite the miss, market commentary remained hawkish.
Trading resource The Kobeissi Letter wrote on X:
“We are now officially seeing inflation metrics in the US that are at 4% or higher. Inflation is back.”
Markets kept bets on Federal Reserve rate cuts firmly priced toward the end of next year, according to CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.
Short squeeze and the 21-week moving average
The move to $76,000 wiped out a major liquidation cluster between $73,500 and $76,500, according to CryptoReviewing, the pseudonymous cofounder of trading community Wealth Capital.
Keith Alan, cofounder of Material Indicators, noted that bitcoin’s price action has been mirroring its 2022 pattern, with the 21-week moving average near $78,300 acting as the next key test.
Alan warned:
“A rejection from that level would send the Weekly RSI back below the R/S flip line at 41, and send BTC to the next leg down.”
What could push bitcoin higher
Alan noted the 21-week trend line “will not be an easy level to break,” suggesting bulls face a significant hurdle.
