Bitcoin ($BTC) moved toward its 11-week low near $73,500 as Wall Street opened Tuesday, after US inflation exceeded expectations.
Key points:
- Bitcoin fell as low as $73,518 following higher-than-expected US inflation data, then climbed back above $74,000.
- October CPI inflation was 0.4% month-on-month, above expectations, even as energy price growth slowed to 0.7% from 5.2% in September.
- Analysts saw the Nasdaq making long-term lows amid “extreme” selling pressure.
Markets factor in a December rate hike after inflation data
TradingView data showed $BTC/USD dropping to $73,518, almost matching Sunday’s low and marking its lowest level since Aug. 21.
$BTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.4% month-on-month in October, above the expected 0.3%. The CPI report had no year-on-year component because data was not collected during the 2025 US government shutdown. It nevertheless showed a slower growth rate than in September, when the monthly increase was 0.6%.
“The index for shelter rose 0.3 percent in October, accounting for over thirty percent of the monthly all items increase. The food index increased 0.5 percent in October, as the food at home index rose 0.4 percent and the food away from home index increased 0.5 percent,” the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said in its official release.
Energy price increases accounted for a substantial share of September’s CPI rise. In October, the energy index climbed by just 0.7%, compared with a 5.2% increase the previous month.
Economist Robin Brooks called the CPI result “discouraging”, while pointing out that the oil-price spike had contributed to September’s figures.
“All the details of this CPI report are discouraging, but October was also the peak of the second big oil price shock this year and that’s obviously going to bleed into core CPI inflation,” he wrote in an analysis.
Speaking earlier Tuesday, Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller said he supported a 25-basis-point interest rate hike in December, even if inflation had cooled from September. Following his remarks, CME Group’s FedWatch Tool showed a 96.3% chance of that outcome at the Fed’s December meeting.
After the CPI report, market expectations shifted in a more hawkish direction: a 25-basis-point hike had 85.3% odds, while a 50-basis-point hike had 14.7%.
Fed target-rate probability comparison for December FOMC meeting (screenshot). Source: CME Group
Related: Here’s what happened in crypto today
Analysis eyes “extreme” Nasdaq sell-off
US stocks fell under pressure at the Wall Street open, as the CPI report added to existing challenges for bulls. Those included strong labor-market data and the prospect of tighter regulation of the AI sector under a Democratic-controlled House and Senate.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index opened down 0.6% before recovering its losses, while Nvidia stock dropped nearly 4% amid a board investigation into whether CEO Jensen Huang had been targeted by a foreign intelligence effort.
Nvidia stock one-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
“Consumer inflation has continued running above target while the October jobs report removed any concerns about a slowdown in the labor market,” the trading resource Mosaic Asset Company wrote in an analysis that day.
Mosaic nonetheless pointed to signs of “extreme” selling pressure on the Nasdaq, which could indicate that the index had formed a long-term bottom.
“That includes a spike in the equity put/call ratio which jumped over 1.0 and is even higher than during the trade war selloff in April 2025,” it added.
Nasdaq Composite Index one-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
Source: cointelegraph.com. Adapted by NBTC.
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