There is an argument that all mined coins are sold: every mined coin must fulfil someone's demand, be it a buyer or the miner itself. So even miners who keep the coins are buying less than they otherwise would have—the mined coins are being sold to themselves.

This means that every mined coin either increases the supply (by sale on the market) or reduces the demand (by fulfilling the miner's own demand). So the amount of coins mined is a big deal! The question then becomes, has the market priced all this in?

I am convinced mining puts a lot of downward pressure on bitcoin prices. I think most have to sell what they mine to cover costs.

So when the block reward halved, the downward pressure was cut in half.