Bitcoin (BTC) hit new month-to-date lows on Dec. 7 as Asian markets fell during trading.

BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView

$16,500 stands as support as BTC price wobbles

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD dipping to lows of $16,736 on Bitstamp, a level not seen since Nov. 30.

The pair thus began to erase the ground it had reclaimed into the November monthly close, showing heavy influence from Asian equities prior to the Wall Street open.

The mood was nervous on the day, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index down 3.2% at the time of writing and the Nikkei 225 and Shanghai Composite Index 0.7% and 0.4% lower, respectively.

“Welp, there we go with Bitcoin, couldn't hold support and started falling down, just like indices have been showing weakness,” Michaël van de Poppe, founder and CEO of trading firm Eight, reacted:

“Have been patiently waiting for a long and will continue to do so. Most likely; longing around $16.5K is valid or reclaim $16.9K.”

Popular Twitter trading account Profit Blue, meanwhile, entertained the possibility of steeper BTC price declines to come.

For fellow trader Elizy, it was, meanwhile, time to wait for the re-emergence of $16,500 for a long scalp trade.

A similarly optimistic take came from Bull, who eyed a potential reclaim of $17,000 next on shorter timeframes.

Earlier, a scan of the Binance order book from on-chain monitoring resource Material Indicators had revealed mounting support at $16,500.

BTC/USD order book data (Binance). Source: Material Indicators/ Twitter

CPI already in focus

With Bitcoin markets still calm compared with November’s intense volatility, analysts continued to look for upcoming macro cues.

Related: ‘Imminent’ crash for stocks? 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week

These were firmly in the form of next week’s United States Consumer Price Index (CPI) print, due Dec. 13.

For trading firm QCP Capital, there was reason to believe that the numbers might favor risk assets when it comes to declining inflation.

“With retailers struggling with inventory all year due to the consumer slowdown, it is likely they have used Black Friday/Cyber Monday to offer eye-popping discounts in order to clear stock, which would factor into the November CPI print released next week,” it postulated in its latest market update on Dec. 5.

QCP remained wary of stocks’ potential to put in a sustained rally, however, with a breakdown causing further pain for correlated crypto assets.

“While many are saying that BTC and ETH are lagging equities and should play catch up, rather we see it as equities having overshot fundamentals and will soon be reeled back,” it wrote.

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