Bitcoin trades near $70K as March 18 Fed rate cut probability drops under 1%

Bitcoin hovered close to $70,000 into Thursday's Wall Street open after United States jobless claims aligned with market expectations and followed flat Consumer Price Index data. Oil prices remained volatile, climbing more than 5% intraday despite news of a 400 million barrel reserve release and ongoing uncertainty over the Middle East conflict. Traders highlighted key BTC levels around $72,000, $68,000 and $62,000, while derivatives pricing implied less than a 1% chance of a Federal Reserve rate cut at the March 18 meeting.