The coin looks relatively steady even as Wall Street equities are near their June lows
The price of bitcoin finished the week nearly unchanged as the coin failed to reclaim the $20,000 psychological level. The BTCUSD pair closed around $19,400, staying directionless on Monday, with most digital currencies stuck in tight trading ranges these days.
Interestingly, bitcoin looks relatively steady even as Wall Street equities are near their June lows. The US dollar extends the ascent while stocks stay pressured after a solid US jobs report that indicated that there may be more aggressive interest rate hikes ahead from the Federal Reserve in a bid to tame inflation. As such, the strong economic numbers mean both equity and crypto investors can expect further aggressive tightening from the US central bank.
In the near term, the most popular digital currency is likely to stay on the defensive along with stocks as investors continue to digest hawkish signals from the Fed in combination with upbeat economic updates. This week, the US CPI report could set the tone for global markets in the context of the Fed’s tightening path. Strong numbers would push the greenback even higher while pressuring equities along with cryptos.
Technically, BTCUSD needs a so-called relief rally in order to regain $20,000. However, the digital currency is unlikely to reclaim this psychologically important level on a sustained basis aby time soon as the overall backdrop in the global markets implies that riskier assets could stay under pressure for the time being.
On the downside, a failure to hold above $19,200 would pave the way towards the $19,000 mark, followed by the $18,950-$18,850 intermediate support zone that may cap the selling pressure on the way towards $18,500. In the immediate term, BTC needs to hold above $19,400 in order to stay afloat.
