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(Kitco News) - Cryptocurrency prices trended higher on Thursday after the latest economic data showed that the U.S. economy has displayed more resilience than expected in the face of the Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest-rate hikes.
Stocks also made gains after a notable upward revision to second-quarter GDP and a fall in jobless claims, despite the fact that the data reinforces the Federal Reserve’s plan to continue raising interest rates. At the close of markets, the S&P and Dow finished in the green, up 0.45% and 0.80%, respectively, while the Nasdaq remained unchanged.
Data provided by TradingView shows that Bitcoin (BTC) climbed from a daily low of $30,135 in the early trading hours to hit a high of $30,857 near midday. The top crypto has since pulled back to support at $30,500.
BTC/USD Chart by TradingView
July Bitcoin futures prices also traded higher, according to Kitco Senior technical analyst Jim Wyckoff, who noted that prices hit a contract high earlier this week.
Bitcoin futures 1-day chart. Source: Kitco
“The bulls have the solid overall near-term technical advantage as a steep price uptrend is in place on the daily bar chart,” Wyckoff said. “A bullish pennant pattern has also formed on the daily chart. Bulls have momentum to suggest more price upside in the near term.”
According to market analyst Rekt Capital, the recent momentum for Bitcoin has helped the top crypto overcome a stubborn resistance level that has stymied growth for the past three months.
#BTC is positioning itself for a Monthly Close above a resistance that had rejected price for the past three months
— Rekt Capital (@rektcapital) June 29, 2023
And now $BTC is holding comfortably above that same level (black)#Crypto #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/b42XYWfcLi
Cubic Analytics founder Caleb Franzen noted that the current price zone is “logically a convenient area for Bitcoin to slow down,” and expects the price action to chop around in this zone before ultimately extending higher.
This is logically a convenient area for #Bitcoin to slow down, though I lean towards a breakout rather than a rejection.
— Caleb Franzen (@CalebFranzen) June 29, 2023
This "pause" behavior, rather than a decisive rejection, indicates that the market is absorbing $30k-$31k very well.
Perhaps more chop before new extension. pic.twitter.com/RphmbB41DH
And MN Trading founder Michaël van de Poppe identified $30,250 as a good entry point for longs but warned of a possible sweep of the lows at $29,500.
Area for longs on #Bitcoin is quite clear.
— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) June 29, 2023
Looking at $30,250 is an optimal area to get those, otherwise I think we'll sweep $29,500.
Trend remains to be upwards, despite consolidation/correction.
Matter of time before we'll crack $31K. pic.twitter.com/wLgnDfGgkD
Altcoins consolidate
The altcoin market largely consolidated on Thursday, with slightly more tokens in the top 200 trading in the green than in the red and the total cryptocurrency market capitalization increasing by 1.67%.
Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360
While the broader market consolidated, several tokens managed to post double-digit gains, including a 26.83% increase for Compound (COMP), a 14.5% increase for Synthetix (SNX), and a 10.6% gain for Solana (SOL).
The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $1.17 trillion, and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 50.4%.
