Bitcoin (BTC) gained 3% on May 1 as a new month saw shorts struggle to keep price pinned.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD reaching $96955 on Bitstamp, its highest since Feb 22.

Bitcoin (BTC) pushed into the $97,000 zone on May 1 as a new month saw short sellers struggling to keep price from making gains.

BTC/USD 1-hour chart (Bitstamp). Data from TradingView Pro, Glassnode and CoinGlass

Bitcoin prices rose 3% in the space of 24 hours as of the Wall Street open on Monday.

At $96,955, the world’s leading cryptocurrency was close to reaching the $97,000 zone, levels last seen in mid-February.

Bitcoin rose in tandem with U.S. stocks as Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares gained 10% to cement the software giant’s status as the world’s highest-valued public company.

Reacting, popular trader Daan Crypto Trades suggested that stocks may be on the cusp of a return to sustained bullish trajectory.

“Stocks trade at a key area here,” he wrote in ongoing X analysis.

An accompanying chart showed the S&P 500 approaching monthly highs, delivering a V-shaped recovery from December 2022 lows.

“Even though $BTC has held up better recently, large moves by equities should still influence BTC & Crypto. So watch this zone,” Daan Crypto Trades added.

Fellow trader Skew was meanwhile keeping an eye on exchange order book liquidity for signs of short-term moves to come.

$BTCWho's going to be right this time?Longs or Shorts pic.twitter.com/4xSu86WzSQ

The latest data from monitoring resource CoinGlass showed ask liquidity thickening around $97,000 at the time of writing.

Analyst on macro picture: ‘Short term: bad for gold’

The optimistic May start-off came despite the macroeconomic outlook remaining uncertain as recession fears returned on the back of poor U.S. GDP data.

Related: Bitcoin eyes gains as macro data makes US recession 2025 ‘base case’

With the Federal Reserve under pressure to cut interest rates, various crypto market commentators saw the chance for a stronger comeback in the coming months.

“Bad macroeconomic data came along, through which the pressure on the FED is increasing to start the money printer again,” crypto trader, analyst and entrepreneur Michaël van de Poppe told X followers in part of a post on the day.

XAU/USD was down more than 8% versus its all-time highs seen in April, with oil also suffering.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.