Bitcoin spiked higher into the June 12 Wall Street open after United States inflation data delivered a surprise drop.
BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: TradingView
CPI fuels sudden 3% BTC price surge
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView captured a snap BTC price surge to $69,636 on Bitstamp.
Bitcoin gained $1,500 in seconds as the May print of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed inflation cooling faster than expected.
Month-on-month CPI was unchanged from last month, while the year-on-year tally was 3.3% — both 0.1% lower than forecast.
“The all items index rose 3.3 percent for the 12 months ending May, a smaller increase than the 3.4-percent increase for the 12 months ending April. The all items less food and energy index rose 3.4 percent over the last 12 months,” an official press release from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics confirmed.
CPI % change chart. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
The result was a boon for risk assets, including crypto, which had suffered in the run-up to CPI in what had become classic behavior for Bitcoin and altcoins.
Now, markets braced for the June meeting of the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee, or FOMC, due later on the day. Here, the decision on interest rate changes, as well as commentary on the economy by Fed Chair Jerome Powell, would be of key importance to sentiment.
Reacting to the latest events, financial commentator Tedtalksmacro was optimistic. CPI, he suggested, had given Powell the green light to entertain an overall easing of tight financial policy in the form of high rates.
“The stage is set for J Powell to talk easing. Let’s go,” he summarized on X.
Michaël van de Poppe, founder and CEO of trading firm MNTrading, focused on falling U.S. dollar strength in the wake of the data.
“The Dollar and Treasury Yields are dropping significantly as the markets are expecting rate cuts to be happening,” he noted.
“This could be the massive sign for Altcoins and Bitcoin.”
Future brightens for Bitcoin-friendly policy easing
Bitcoin thus erased the losses that had come courtesy of U.S. employment data the week prior.
Further such figures were due into the end of the week, leaving the door open to further BTC price volatility.
The latest estimates from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool, meanwhile, showed shifting market bets on when rate cuts could come, with the September FOMC meeting now at over 70%.
Fed target rate probabilities. Source: CME Group
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