Bitcoin slides below $74,000 after hot US inflation, breaking from a stock rebound, with analysts watching $73,200 and $73,000

Bitcoin slid below $74,000 on Tuesday afternoon, trading around $73,363 and down about 1.6%, as a hotter-than-expected October inflation report clouded the outlook for Federal Reserve interest rates, The Block reported. Consumer prices rose 0.4% in the month against a forecast of 0.3%, and core prices rose 0.3% against 0.2%. Ether fell 3.7% to about $2,042, and solana dropped more than 4% to below $83. The prices are as of about 2:38 p.m. Eastern time.

The drop comes as stocks were rallying. CoinDesk noted that the S&P 500 had its best day since April 8 on Monday and the Nasdaq Composite rose 2.7%, while bitcoin stayed flat, a break from weeks in which it had tracked Nasdaq futures.

Analysts named the levels they are watching. Lewis Huang of Bitget called the 200-day moving average, near $73,200, "a key support level to watch." Matt Mena of 21Shares said $73,000 sits near bitcoin's pre-election 2024 all-time high and its April 2025 lows, and a sustained break could send the price toward $69,000. He also said a retest of $78,000 is possible on the upside. Paul Howard of Wincent said he expects a gradual downward drift without a shift in monetary policy, regulation or institutional flows. These are the analysts' views, not forecasts by Cryptoweek, and prices move quickly.