Bitcoin sees new 4-month high as US PPI, retail data posts 'big misses'

cointelegraph.com:

Bitcoin (BTC) set yet another multi-month high before the Jan. 18 Wall Street open as United States macroeconomic data fell far wide of expectations.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD spiking to $21,646 on Bitstamp.

A subsequent correction saw the pair moving around $21,400 at the time of writing, with U.S. stocks reacting to surprise data surrounding economic activity in December.

Specifically, the Producer Price Index (PPI) showed cost rises cooling faster than consensus predicted, with retail sales also declining beyond estimates.

“PPI comes in at 6.2%, while expectation was 6.8%. Core PPI comes in at 5.5%, while expectation was 5.7%,” Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe wrote in part of ongoing Twitter updates.

Bitcoin showed bullishness around the numbers, these potentially signaling less of a need for further aggressive interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve going forward.

Earlier, Cointelegraph reported on the Bank of Japan itself not to make already very loose policy more restrictive, in contrast to the Fed and other major central banks.

An already flagging U.S. dollar index (DXY) thus extended a retracement which began with the Japan news as PPI hit, falling to 101.52, its lowest since late May last year.

BTC/USD last traded at the day’s high in mid-September.

Related: BTC price cancels FTX losses — 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week

As ever, there were plenty of nerves visible among traders despite the strong performance, with analytics resource Material Indicators repeating warnings over uptrend weakness.

“Waking up to the same game in the BTC chart,” it wrote on the day, referencing the status quo on the Binance order book.

More optimistic was popular commentator