Crypto Markets Bounce Back as Core U.S Inflation Hits 3-Year Low

Crypto markets rallied on Wednesday morning after the latest U.S. inflation figures came in under economists’ expectations.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 0.3% in April, falling short of the Dow Jones estimate of 0.4%. On an annualized basis, the CPI increased by 3.4%, in line with expectations but down from 3.7% in March.

The CPI measures the average change over time in the prices paid by consumers for a basket of goods and services. It impacts crypto markets by influencing investor sentiment and economic forecasts; lower-than-expected CPI can boost confidence in risk assets like cryptocurrencies, while higher CPI can trigger fears of inflation and potentially more restrictive policy measures from the Federal Reserve.

Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $65,000, marking a 6% increase in the last 24 hours. Ether (ETH) ticked up by more than 3%, while Solana (SOL) soared by nearly 8%, according to CoinGecko data.

Among meme coins, FLOKI (FLOKI) tops the charts with a 13% gain. Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) also posted increases of between 2% and 4%.

Crypto analyst Justin Bennett said, “BTC is hanging by a thread. The $61k support area is holding, but the longer Bitcoin trades below $65k on the weekly and monthly time frames, the worse this looks.”

Michael Van de Poppe, CEO of MN Trading, told The Defiant that Ethereum is in the final stages of its correction. “Around 10% more to decline before hitting a higher timeframe support level. The good times are just a few weeks away,” he said.

Meanwhile, the State of Wisconsin Investment Board disclosed in a May 14 filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it had purchased approximately $100 million worth of the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and $64 million in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).

AMC and GameStop tank

AMC Entertainment and GameStop shares dropped in early morning trading as the momentum from the meme stock craze — rekindled on Monday by the social media return of “Roaring Kitty” — started to wane. AMC fell by 30% on Wednesday morning, while GameStop shares plummeted by 35%.

However, broader U.S. stock markets posted gains following the inflation report. Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite hit all-time highs on Wednesday.

The S&P 500 increased by 1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose by 1.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.8%.