Bitcoin Reclaims $71,300 as Middle East Tensions Pressure Energy and Metals Markets

U.S. military operations against Iranian energy facilities on March 16 and tensions over tanker escorts through the Strait of Hormuz have raised shipping risks and reduced traffic, with spillover effects hitting industrial metals, BlockBeats reports. One of the world's largest aluminum smelters cut production by about 20% due to disrupted raw material supplies, while the International Energy Agency plans to release strategic oil reserves into Asian markets to ease short-term supply constraints. The U.S. revised its fourth quarter GDP for last year down to 0.7%, with core PCE inflation at 3.1% year over year in January and job openings at 6.95 million, fueling discussion of a potential stagflationary shock under overlapping geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty. BTC moved back above the key $71,300 resistance level, with liquidity concentrated between $72,700 and $74,000 and potential support bands near $69,000 and $70,200.