Bitcoin (BTC) moved below $27,000 on May 19, with large-volume trades reported to be impacting the price. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD dipping to lows of $26,380 on Bitstamp. A moderate recovery soon followed, leading to a familiar range over the next several days, with market expectation of an interest rate hike by the United States Federal Reserve in June creating downward pressure.
Low jobless claims data for the week and hawkish comments from Fed officials contributed to these expectations. Board member Philip Jefferson, while speaking at the 2023 International Insurance Forum in Washington, D.C., suggested that inflation was too high and that GDP growth had slowed. CME Group’s FedWatch Tool showed the odds of the Fed pausing its hiking cycle next month at just 62%, down from over 95% earlier.
Monitoring resource Material Indicators revealed bid and ask liquidity owners placing trades to manipulate BTC price behavior on short timeframes. The resource also noted that BTC/USD performed a retest of the 100-day moving average (MA) – its third retest in the past seven days. In addition to the 100-day MA, the 200-week MA at $26,100 could potentially form a downside support zone next.
The May 19 appearance by Fed Chair Jerome Powell raised speculation that further hawkish language on inflation would add to risk asset price pressure. This led traders to maintain potential bearish targets, focusing on a broad area around $25,000. Michaël van de Poppe, founder and CEO of trading firm Eight, identified $27,000 as the key support level now missing from the chart. Consequently, traders are now in a “wait and see” mode, potentially preparing for a $26,400 sweep or even a drop to the $25,000 range.
Source: Cointelegraph