Bitcoin price springs 5% to $62K as US jobs data boosts rate cut bets
Bitcoin (BTC) gained up to 5% on May 3 as United States employment data delivered a major risk-asset boost.
BTC price: “Bad news is good news”
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView tracked an impulsive BTC price move which took BTC/USD past $62,000 on Bitstamp.
U.S. nonfarm payrolls data for April came in markedly below expectations, offering some of the labor market weakness that the Federal Reserve said would bolster the case for interest rate cuts.
“We are prepared to maintain the current target range for the federal funds rate for as long as appropriate,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said during a press conference on May 1.
“We are also prepared to respond to an unexpected weakening in the labor market.”
Nonfarm payrolls went against other recent macro data prints which served to undermine bulls’ confidence.
Stocks immediately felt relief, with Dow Jones futures surging 500 points.
Reacting, trading resource The Kobeissi Letter nonetheless queried how the Fed might handle inflation issues going forward.
“We now have a weakening labor market, lower GDP growth, and rising inflation,” it summarized on X (formerly Twitter).
“How is this a ‘soft landing?’”
The latest estimates from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool put the odds of a rate cut at the June meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, or FOMC, at just below 15%. The July meeting odds were 33% for a minimal 0.25% cut.
Bitcoin “entering a new era” as whales buy
Responding to the latest BTC price upswing, commentators hoped that higher levels would hold as support, leaving the week’s trip to two-month lows as a knee-jerk reaction.
Related: Why is the crypto market up today?
“Looks like it was just a downside wick,” popular trader and analyst Rekt Capital wrote in an X post.
“Weekly Close just like this would confirm this pool of liquidity as secured support.”
Rekt Capital added in a separate post that BTC/USD was almost out of a “danger zone” which accompanied each block subsidy halving event.
As Cointelegraph reported, Bitcoin had initially faced problems reclaiming $60,000, with the area around it the site of key bull market support trendlines.
“Watching this level near $62k to see if Bitcoin can reclaim,” fellow trader Josh Rager continued.
“Historically over the past year Bitcoin has a habit of breaking below support on higher time frames and reclaiming soon after.”
Revealing whale behavior in recent days, meanwhile, Ki Young Ju, founder of on-chain analytics firm CryptoQuant, said that the area below $60,000 had been a popular one for “buying the dip.”
“Bitcoin whales accumulated 47K $BTC in the past 24 hours,” he commented alongside a chart of active whale addresses.
“We're entering a new era.”
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.
