WTI holds below $85.50 amid inflation fears
Source Fxstreet
- WTI drifts lower to $85.00 on Friday.
- The higher-for-longer US rate narrative weighs on the black gold.
- The fear of Middle East geopolitical tensions might cap the WTI’s downside for the time being.
Western Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US crude oil benchmark, is trading around $85.00 on Friday. The black gold edges lower on the day as the elevated inflation dampened the expectation for US interest rate cuts this year. Nonetheless, the escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East might cap the downside of WTI prices in the near term.
The recent US inflation and employment reports indicated that the path of easing inflation remains extremely bumpy and the Federal Reserve (Fed) might need to delay the interest rate cuts. According to the FOMC minutes released on Wednesday, participants noted their uncertainty about the elevated high inflation and recent data had not increased their confidence that inflation was moving sustainably down to 2%.” Financial markets have priced in only two rate cuts this year, which will most likely start in September, per the CME FedWatch Tool. The higher-for-longer US rate narrative could exert some selling pressure on black gold as it translates to less demand for oil as the cost of storing crude increases.
Additionally, WTI prices lose traction after the release of the EIA report. Crude oil stockpiles in the United States for the week ending April 5 increased by 5.841 million barrels from a build of 3.21 million barrels in the previous week. The market consensus estimated that stocks would rise by about 2.366 million barrels, according to the US Energy Information Administration report on Wednesday.
On the other hand, the fear of geopolitical risks in the Middle East might boost WTI prices. Israel and Hamas began a fresh round of negotiations in their more than six-month-old Gaza war this week, but those talks have yielded no agreement. Additionally, a potential Iranian strike on Israel for a suspected air strike on its embassy in Syria on April 1 is likely to cap the downside of WTI prices for the time being.
Disclaimer: For information purposes only. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
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Bitcoin Slides 5% as Sellers Lean In — Can BTC Reclaim $88,000?Bitcoin has dropped back below $88,000 after rolling over from $90,500, with price still trading under the 100-hour Simple Moving Average.
The sell-off found a floor at $85,151, and BTC is now consolidating near that base, but rebounds are facing pressure from a bearish trend line around $89,000.
Bulls need to retake $88,000–$89,000 to ease downside risk; failure to do so keeps $85,500–$85,000 and then $83,500 in play, with $80,000 as the deeper “line in the sand.”
Bitcoin (BTC) is back in damage-control mode after a sharp pullback wiped out recent gains. The price failed to reclaim the $90,000–$90,500 band, rolled over, and slid through $88,500 before briefly dipping under $87,000. Buyers did show up around $85,000, but the rebound so far looks more like stabilization than a clear trend reversal.
Bitcoin dips hard, finds a bid near $85,000（h3）
BTC’s latest move lower began when it couldn’t build follow-through above $90,000 and $90,500. Once that upside stalled, sellers took control and pushed price down through $88,500.
The slide accelerated enough to spike below $87,000, but the market didn’t free-fall. Bulls defended the $85,000 zone, printing a low at $85,151. Since then, Bitcoin has been consolidating below the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement of the drop from the $93,560 swing high to the $85,151 low — a clue that the bounce is still shallow and that sellers haven’t fully backed off yet.
Structurally, BTC is still on the back foot:
It’s trading below $88,000, and
It remains below the 100-hour Simple Moving Average, keeping short-term trend pressure pointed downward.
Resistance is layered, and $89,000 is the problem area（h3）
If bulls try to turn this into a recovery, they’ll have to climb through multiple ceilings in quick succession.
First, BTC faces resistance around $87,150, followed by a more meaningful barrier near $87,500. From there, the market’s attention snaps back to $88,000 — the level BTC just lost and now needs to reclaim.
A close back above $88,000 would improve the tone, but it doesn’t solve the bigger issue: there’s a bearish trend line on the hourly BTC/USD chart (Kraken feed) with resistance near $89,000, which also lines up with the next technical hurdle.
If BTC can push through $89,000 and hold, the rebound could extend toward $90,000, with follow-through targets at $91,000 and $91,500. But until price clears that $88,000–$89,000 zone, rallies are at risk of being sold rather than chased.
If BTC fails to reclaim resistance, the downside path is clear（h3）
The near-term bear case is simple: if Bitcoin can’t climb back above the $87,000 area and keep traction, sellers may attempt another leg lower.
Support levels line up like this:
Immediate support: $85,500
First major support: $85,000
Next support: $83,500
Then $82,500 in the near term
Below that, the major “don’t break this” level is still $80,000. If BTC slips under $80,000, the risk of acceleration to the downside increases significantly — not because it’s magic, but because it’s the kind of psychological and structural level that tends to trigger forced de-risking.
Indicators: momentum still leans bearish（h3）
The intraday indicators aren’t offering much comfort yet:
Hourly MACD is losing pace in the bearish zone.
Hourly RSI remains below 50, suggesting sellers still have the upper hand on short timeframes.
So while the $85,000 defense held for now, the market hasn’t flipped bullish — it’s just stopped bleeding.
Bitcoin has dropped back below $88,000 after rolling over from $90,500, with price still trading under the 100-hour Simple Moving Average.
The sell-off found a floor at $85,151, and BTC is now consolidating near that base, but rebounds are facing pressure from a bearish trend line around $89,000.
Bulls need to retake $88,000–$89,000 to ease downside risk; failure to do so keeps $85,500–$85,000 and then $83,500 in play, with $80,000 as the deeper “line in the sand.”
Bitcoin (BTC) is back in damage-control mode after a sharp pullback wiped out recent gains. The price failed to reclaim the $90,000–$90,500 band, rolled over, and slid through $88,500 before briefly dipping under $87,000. Buyers did show up around $85,000, but the rebound so far looks more like stabilization than a clear trend reversal.
Bitcoin dips hard, finds a bid near $85,000（h3）
BTC’s latest move lower began when it couldn’t build follow-through above $90,000 and $90,500. Once that upside stalled, sellers took control and pushed price down through $88,500.
The slide accelerated enough to spike below $87,000, but the market didn’t free-fall. Bulls defended the $85,000 zone, printing a low at $85,151. Since then, Bitcoin has been consolidating below the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement of the drop from the $93,560 swing high to the $85,151 low — a clue that the bounce is still shallow and that sellers haven’t fully backed off yet.
Structurally, BTC is still on the back foot:
It’s trading below $88,000, and
It remains below the 100-hour Simple Moving Average, keeping short-term trend pressure pointed downward.
Resistance is layered, and $89,000 is the problem area（h3）
If bulls try to turn this into a recovery, they’ll have to climb through multiple ceilings in quick succession.
First, BTC faces resistance around $87,150, followed by a more meaningful barrier near $87,500. From there, the market’s attention snaps back to $88,000 — the level BTC just lost and now needs to reclaim.
A close back above $88,000 would improve the tone, but it doesn’t solve the bigger issue: there’s a bearish trend line on the hourly BTC/USD chart (Kraken feed) with resistance near $89,000, which also lines up with the next technical hurdle.
If BTC can push through $89,000 and hold, the rebound could extend toward $90,000, with follow-through targets at $91,000 and $91,500. But until price clears that $88,000–$89,000 zone, rallies are at risk of being sold rather than chased.
If BTC fails to reclaim resistance, the downside path is clear（h3）
The near-term bear case is simple: if Bitcoin can’t climb back above the $87,000 area and keep traction, sellers may attempt another leg lower.
Support levels line up like this:
Immediate support: $85,500
First major support: $85,000
Next support: $83,500
Then $82,500 in the near term
Below that, the major “don’t break this” level is still $80,000. If BTC slips under $80,000, the risk of acceleration to the downside increases significantly — not because it’s magic, but because it’s the kind of psychological and structural level that tends to trigger forced de-risking.
Indicators: momentum still leans bearish（h3）
The intraday indicators aren’t offering much comfort yet:
Hourly MACD is losing pace in the bearish zone.
Hourly RSI remains below 50, suggesting sellers still have the upper hand on short timeframes.
So while the $85,000 defense held for now, the market hasn’t flipped bullish — it’s just stopped bleeding.
The AUD/USD pair attracts some sellers for the fourth straight day on Tuesday and trades around the 0.6630 region, down just over 0.10%, during the Asian session.
Analysts predict Bitcoin may face further declines towards the $70,000 mark if the Bank of Japan raises interest rates as expected.
