Bitcoin price hits $28.5K on PCE data as macro 'accumulation zone' ends

Bitcoin (BTC) recovered recent losses at the March 31 Wall Street open as traders looked for a strong monthly close.

BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView

PCE delights risk assets as with BTC price up $1,000

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD heading to $28,556 on Bitstamp after the opening bell, up $1,000 from the day's lows.

The fresh gains followed encouraging macroeconomic data from the United States, with the February Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index modestly beating expectations in some areas.

"We are making progress in the fight against inflation," an official White House statement about the PCE numbers read.

"Today’s report shows annual inflation down by nearly 30 percent from this summer, against a backdrop of low unemployment and steady growth."

More evidence of a decline in the US Inflation Rate...

The PCE Price Index moved down to 5%, its lowest level since September 2021. Peak was 7% in June 2022. pic.twitter.com/gR4pY1UVpf

— Charlie Bilello (@charliebilello) March 31, 2023

With inflation sticky yet seemingly not troubling markets, these appeared to increase bets on Federal Reserve interest rate hikes pausing in May, data from CME Group's FedWatch Tool showed.

Risk assets thus traded higher in anticipation. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index were both up around 0.5% higher at the time of writing.

Fed target rate probabilities chart. Source: CME Group

Related: US enforcement agencies are turning up the heat on crypto-related crime

The mood around Bitcoin was equally buoyant, countering reservations among some traders who had warned of a significant retracement at or near the monthly close.

#Bitcoin / $BTC

AND BOOM THAT IS HOW IT’S DONE BOUNCE RIGHT OFF $27.5K

Now time to slowly grind back toward highs, reclaim $29K and initiate acceleration for full send pic.twitter.com/VDt6zn8lcA

— K A L E O (@CryptoKaleo) March 31, 2023

To the upside, data from monitoring resource Material Indicators showed the bulk of ask liquidity stacked at $29,000 prior to the PCE release.

BTC/USD order book data (Binance). Source: Material Indicators/ Twitter

Popular trader Crypto Tony entertained the idea of Bitcoin hitting $30,000 in the short term, price having held a key support level at $27,700.

Analytics account Skew meanwhile argued that spot buying pressure needed to hold to preserve current levels above $28,000.

Bitcoin "leaving" buy the dip territory

Moving to higher timeframes, optimism was no less in evidence.

Related: BTC price to $22K? Watch these key levels into Bitcoin monthly close

"Bitcoin is leaving another accumulation zone!" Caleb Franzen, senior market analyst at Cubic Analytics, announced on the day.

"Bitcoin's 24-month Williams%R Oscillator is set to close above the 'oversold' threshold for March, which has marked an end to prior bear markets. Bullish long-term probabilities are improving, so long as we stay above the lower-bound."

Franzen had previously covered the evolving status quo for the Bitcoin Williams %R oscillator across various timeframes as the 2023 uptrend began.

BTC/USD annotated chart. Source: Caleb Franzen/ Twitter

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