(Sept 10): Bitcoin declined for a fourth consecutive trading session, slipping further below US$80,000 (RM325,288) as a choppy backdrop for risk assets added to its difficulty sustaining upward momentum.

Risk appetite took a knock from renewed Middle East tensions, with oil climbing above US$105 this week, while stocks and bonds fell after the latest US inflation data did little to alter expectations that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates.

The latest retreat remains within bitcoin’s recent trading range rather than signalling a fresh breakdown. But its repeated failures to establish a foothold above US$80,000 underscore how difficult it has been for the token to build on the recent rebound as US demand remains uneven.

The largest cryptocurrency dropped as much as 2.1% to US$76,663.54 in early trading in New York. The token has been trading in a rough range of US$60,000 to US$80,000 since early February. It reached a record high of around US$126,000 last October. 

The slide accelerated on Thursday after a report showed that the US producer price index (PPI) rose 0.4% in August from the prior month and 5.4% from a year earlier, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

The PPI report comes a day ahead of the latest update to the consumer price index, which is expected to show core inflation was relatively modest even as rising gasoline prices boosted the headline measure. Some Fed officials have signaled the rate decision at their Sept 15-16 meeting may come down to what this week’s reports reveal. 

Uploaded by Felyx Teoh