Bitcoin slipped under $78,000 in the hours after Wednesday's Wall Street open, staying away from the $80,000 level. The move followed the US July PCE inflation report, the Federal Reserve's preferred price gauge.
The US Bureau of Economic Analysis reported the PCE price index rose 0.1% month-on-month in July, and the core index (excluding food and energy) also rose 0.1%. The annual PCE rate came in at 3.7%, above the 3.6% analysts expected.
Risk assets eased across the board. US stocks opened lower, and gold broke below $4,600 per ounce.
Context: June marked the first month-on-month drop in the PCE index in six years. The release lands ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's keynote at Jackson Hole on Friday, and Nvidia's second-quarter earnings on August 26.
US Bureau of Economic Analysis (July PCE release); Cointelegraph