Bitcoin (BTC) starts one of the most important macro weeks of the year in a precarious position below $17,000.
After its latest weekly close, BTC/USD showed little upward momentum prior to the Dec. 12 Wall Street open.
With volatility yet to appear, the largest cryptocurrency continues to trade in a narrow range, and analysts are increasingly impatient for new catalysts.
These, they agree, should come in the next few days — United States economic data is due, and its content and impact on economic policy will likely have a significant impact on crypto markets.
Elsewhere, the uneasy status quo continues — Bitcoin miners are struggling, sentiment lacks inspiration and traders are increasingly drawing comparisons to the pits of previous bear markets.
Where could BTC price action head in the coming week? Cointelegraph takes a look at five factors set to influence trajectory.
“Most important” CPI print forms key focus
The phrase on everyone’s lips this week is Consumer Price Index (CPI) — the key measure of consumer prices inflation in the U.S.
While coming every month, the latest CPI print, due Dec. 13 for the month of November, has additional importance for the market. With two weeks to go until the end of the year, the chances of a risk asset “Santa rally,” for instance, now hang in the balance.
It is not just the CPI report itself; the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will decide on rate hikes this week, and Chair Jerome Powell will deliver a speech that market commentators will scrutinize for signs of policy change.
“CPI Report Tuesday, FED rate hikes and JPow speaks on Wednesday. Stay tuned for volatility,” on-chain analytics resource Material Indicators summarized at the weekend.
Popular trader MisterSpread added that further decisions outside the U.S. made for “one of the most (if not the most) important” weeks of the year.
“Tuesday’s CPI will yet again be ‘the most important CPI release ever’, this time because the market has set it up to be with its epic 2-month short squeeze rally,” trading firm QCP Capital meanwhile wrote in a market update.
QCP continued:
“A higher-than-expected CPI print and more hawkish Fed have the potential to invalidate this rally, like we saw in the April and August reversals. On the other hand, another disinflationary print could see many chase a continuation of the rally into year-end.”
Regardless of whether up or down, CPI tends to induce market volatility surrounding its…
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