Bitcoin price stays under $24K as PCE data helps US dollar to near 7-week highs

cointelegraph.com:

Bitcoin (BTC) stayed lower at the Feb. 24 Wall Street open as United States macroeconomic data showed inflation biting back.

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 day prior, but this ultimately proved unsuccessful as resistance kept gains in check.

Bitcoin nonetheless saw only a muted reaction to the latest U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Index print, which at 4.7% versus 4.3% forecast suggested that inflation was not ebbing as quickly as hoped.

For popular commentator Tedtalksmacro, this was cause for the Federal Reserve to consider a larger interest rate hike at its March meeting — a potential headwind for risk assets including crypto.

“Here comes the speculation of 50bps in March,” he argued in part of a Twitter reaction.

Focusing on BTC/USD itself, Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe meanwhile remained upbeat on the short-term prospects.

“The markets are still having a regular correction inside an uptrend,” he wrote alongside a chart with significant levels highlighted.

Monitoring resource Material Indicators showed resistance on the Binance order book laddered above spot price, with most support at $23,000.

Popular trader and analyst Rekt Capital additionally showed that BTC/USD was attempting to hold a trend line recently flipped to support on intraday timeframes.

“There hasn't been a 3rd consecutive retest yet but BTC is still holding above the Lower High resistance,” he tweeted.

U.S. stock took a more pronounced tumble on the PCE print, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index down 1.4% and 1.7%, respectively at the time of writing.

Related: Bitcoin must leverage $1T