Live markets: What's next as bitcoin holds $80,000, while stocks sink, yields rise on ugly inflation print

15:28 UTC ? A bitcoin daily close above $82,000 could trigger rally towards $85,000

Bitcoin is trading roughly flat over the past three hours at $80,584, holding above the closely watched $80,000 support level despite a hotter-than-expected U.S. CPI reading.

Matt Mena, senior crypto research strategist at 21Shares, said bitcoin?s resilience near $81,000 signals strong market positioning even as inflation concerns persist. He pointed to several near-term catalysts that could support another move higher, including Thursday?s Senate Banking Committee markup hearing on the CLARITY Act, renewed speculation around a potential U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve announcement, and continued inflows into spot bitcoin ETFs, which have attracted more than $3.5 billion over the past six weeks.

Mena said a daily close above $82,000 could open the door to a rally toward $85,000 and potentially the $88,000-$90,000 range, while failure to break resistance alongside a hotter producer price index reading could send bitcoin back toward $75,000 support.

15:10 UTC ? The copper-gold ratio is breaking out

Copper, a reliable economic indicator, is nearing record highs at $6.54.

Historically, bitcoin and copper have shown strong positive correlations, with copper rallies often preceding gains in bitcoin.

Bitcoin?s strongest rallies have also tended to coincide with a rising copper/gold ratio, which has now reached its highest level since July 2025 at 0.00140. While the ratio has broken above its 200-day moving average, an asset that rises above its 200-day moving average is generally considered to be in a long-term uptrend.

15:05 UTC ? Bitcoin flat following disappointing inflation data

Core consumer prices ? which would have stripped out what everyone already knew were surging energy costs ? rose 0.4% in April, double March's 0.2% pace and higher than 0.3% expected by economists.

On a year-over-year basis, core CPI rose 2.8% versus 2.6% in March and 2.7% forecast.

Headline CPI ? which does include energy costs ? was higher by 3.8% in April versus just 3.3% in March and 3,7% expected. That 3.8% was the fastest pace of inflation since May 2023.

The data has market participants quickly pricing in Federal Reserve rate hikes ??a massive change from weeks ago, when the question was how often the Fed would be cutting rates in 2026.

According to CME FedWatch, markets are seeing more than a 35% chance of one or more rate hikes this year.

The news has helped send stocks lower, led by the Nasdaq's 1.3% decline.

Bitcoin (BTC), though, has been holding steady, currently trading at $80,500, roughly flat over the past 24 hours. Major altcoins like ether (ETH) and XRP (XRP) are down closer to 2.5%.