Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that BTC price fluctuations remain unchanged after hitting a two-week low on October 11.
This comes as U.S. macroeconomic data continues to indicate ongoing persistent inflation, catching the market by surprise. On October 12, the September Consumer Price Index (CPI) further confirmed this trend, reaching 3.7% compared to the expected 3.6%.
An official press release from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics confirmed, “The all items index increased 3.7% over the 12 months ending in September, a larger increase than the 12-month increase ending in August.”
“The index for all items less food and energy rose 4.1 percent over the past year. The energy index decreased 0.5 percent over the 12 months ending in September, and the food index increased 3.7 percent year over year.”
The concept of “higher for longer” when it comes to U.S. interest rates is believed to put pressure on risk assets, including cryptocurrencies.
Following the CPI, the likelihood of the Fed raising interest rates further at the next Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on November 1 remains minimal, at only 7.4%, according to data from CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
As for Bitcoin, market participants who have been cautious have very few reasons to expect a short-term return to an upward trend.
Renowned trader Skew continues to mark $26,800 as the level for the bull camp to shift to support.
Data from Material Indicators shows a lack of liquidity betting on $24,750, an important level over the past two quarters.
“It’s been a while since we’ve discussed whether good = good or good = bad for the BTC price,” co-founder Keith Alan added in commentary on the macroeconomic aspects before the CPI.
“I’m not an economist, but based on yesterday’s reports, the overall economic outlook, and geopolitical tensions, I’d choose bad = bad.”
Furthermore, trading firm QCP Capital described a continued bearish trajectory for Bitcoin and the largest altcoin, Ether, despite many potential price catalysts in Q4.
“Hope that the relative underperformance of BTC and ETH in the current uptrend also means their beta coefficients are lower if the CPI comes in hotter than expected,” they wrote in a previous market update on the day.
“If not, we continue to watch key levels at $25-26,000 to the downside and $29-30,000 to the upside for trend determination.”