Bitcoin price buys time at $61K as US jobless claims hit 9-month highs
Bitcoin (BTC) failed to sustain a rebound at the May 9 Wall Street open while new macro data bolstered risk-asset bulls.
Bitcoin shrugs off U.S. jobless claims miss
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed a brief BTC spike to $61,750, which failed to hold.
This came on the back of the latest United States jobless claims that beat expectations to reach their highest levels in nine months at 231,000 versus 212,000 expecte.
The Federal Reserve had recently flagged signs of strain within the labor market as being a key reason to consider interest rate cuts.
Despite this, BTC/USD appeared in no mood for celebration at the time of writing, dropping back below $61,000.
“Some big bids appeared between $59-60K,” popular trader Daan Crypto Trades noted in his latest order book analysis on X (formerly Twitter).
“This makes sense in terms of a price level as it's the range low as well. Yet to be seen if price seeks the liquidity down there. Keep in mind these orders can be removed at any time.”
Earlier, Cointelegraph reported on liquidity being taken both above and below spot price while BTC/USD stayed within a rigid trading range.
In its latest update to Telegram channel subscribers on the day, meanwhile, trading firm QCP Capital suggested that this behavior would continue.
“Markets are currently pricing in 2 Fed cuts this year, with the first cut only expected in Sep. - To make things worse, BTC spot ETF flows have flattened out again after strong inflows from last Friday and the recent Monday,” it wrote.
“- The desk is not seeing any bearish panic but more trades that express a lower volatility, consolidation view.”
Trader: $110,000 BTC price still in play
Adopting a more optimistic view, popular trader Titan of Crypto gave a potential upside target of $75,000 for the end of the current consolidation period.
Related: How low can the Bitcoin price go?
An accompanying chart showed a possible inverse head and shoulders pattern forming, with downside limited to much beyond $55,000 should weakness reenter the market.
“The worst case scenario would be BTC to drop to the bottom line of the descending broadening wedge,” he explained.
More broadly, Titan of Crypto expects Bitcoin to hit six figures for the first time, acknowledging that "time and patience" was required on the part of market participants.
"Watch the $61.5k level. The manipulation could occur there," part of an X post stated on May 8.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.